Manchester United will be looking to keep up their top-four challenge when they welcome Crystal Palace to Old Trafford on Wednesday night.

Victory would see the Red Devils close the gap on fourth-placed Arsenal to just one point, with the Gunners not in action until the Thursday, when they host West Bromwich Albion.

Both sides may have one eye on their respective FA Cup semi-finals this weekend, however, with United facing Everton and Palace taking on Watford at Wembley.

Man Utd

Manchester United fans will be hoping for a more joyous affair at Old Trafford on Wednesday than they experienced at the weekend.

The Red Devils came away with a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday, but the way they performed suggested that they, like Villa, had lost all hope for the remainder of the season.

Marcus Rashford, who has been arguably the brightest spark of the entire campaign, scored his seventh goal in 12 games since breaking into the first team to condemn Villa to relegation, but his 32nd-minute strike was one of few moments to shout about for the home fans.

Even manager Louis van Gaal admitted that he was surprised by the lack of tempo and energy shown by his side, and their lethargy almost came back to bite them late on when Villa hit the post in the closing stages.

Failure to win a game in which they had utterly dominated possession would have been another low point in their season, but as it was the three points could prove to be vital to their hopes of sneaking into the Champions League places.

With Arsenal faltering, United have the chance to put some pressure on this week, and with four wins from their last five games in all competitions, Van Gaal's side are doing what they need to do to stay in the race.

The fact that their last four league victories have all been by a 1-0 scoreline will not help to appease those pining for a return to the free-scoring Sir Alex Ferguson days, though, and their tally of just 40 goals from 33 outings is not one to be particularly proud of.

At the other end, though, they have kept a league-high 16 clean sheets this term, including 11 in their 16 outings at Old Trafford, where they have conceded only seven goals.

United are now eight matches unbeaten in front of their own fans and have only lost two of 26 games on home turf all season, while only Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur can boast more Premier League points at home.

Once again, though, a club like Manchester United demand more than simply results, and the fact that Old Trafford is the Premier League ground which has seen the fewest goals this season is a record that Van Gaal will want to shed before the end of the campaign.

Recent form: WLWWLW
Recent form (all competitions): DWWLWW

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace will travel to Old Trafford knowing that they could be facing United again in the final of the FA Cup next month.

While the Red Devils will take on Everton in the first semi-final on Saturday, Palace are in action a day later against Watford as they look to book their place in the showpiece for the first time since 1990 and only the second time ever.

United are still fighting on two fronts with their European challenge, though, while Palace should now be able to safely turn their attention solely to the cup having stopped the rot somewhat in recent weeks.

The Eagles are now unbeaten in their last four games and picked up five valuable points in the space of eight days recently, culminating in their surprise 1-1 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

It is still only one win in their last 17 league games, but the point against the Gunners lifted them onto 39 for the season - nine clear of the relegation zone with only four matches remaining.

The unpredictability of this season in particular means that they may not rest completely until safety is mathematically guaranteed, but they appear to have done just enough over the last couple of weeks to keep themselves at arm's length of danger.

Incredibly, the six points that they have won so far in April is three times as many as they managed in January, February and March combined, and Alan Pardew will now be keen to get his side climbing back up the table following that alarming collapse.

Even with that run, Palace have only lost one of their last seven away games in all competitions and boast a better record on the road in the league than they do in front of their own fans, with more points, more goals scored and fewer conceded away from home.

However, you have to go back to before Christmas for their last league win on their travels - an eight-match streak that includes draws in each of their last three away games.

Recent form: LLDWDD
Recent form (all competitions): WLDWDD

Team News

Van Gaal admitted after the Villa match that he wanted to rest Rashford, but decided to keep him in due to his fine goalscoring form.

The Dutchman will be faced with the same conundrum again on Wednesday, although he hinted in his pre-match press conference that he could opt to leave the youngster out this time.

That could open the door for the fit-again Wayne Rooney to lead the line as he bids to become only the second player in Premier League history to score 100 goals at a single Premier League ground. The skipper is currently on 99 at Old Trafford, and would follow in the footsteps of Thierry Henry (114 at Highbury) should he achieve the feat.

The likes of Anthony Martial and Timothy Fosu-Mensah will be hopeful of recalls to the starting XI, while Ander Herrera is also back in contention following a foot injury.

Phil Jones is nearing a return too, but Bastian Schweinsteiger, Adnan Januzaj and Luke Shaw remain sidelined.

Palace, meanwhile, have a number of walking wounded following their draw at Arsenal, with Joel Ward, Joe Ledley, Yannick Bolasie and Scott Dann all picking up knocks that could keep them out of this game.

James McArthur could make his return from more than two months out with a foot injury, though, while Brede Hangeland will undergo a late fitness test having not starting a league game so far in 2016.

The match will come too soon for Dwight Gayle, but the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Bakary Sako and Emmanuel Adebayor will be pushing for a recall.

Man Utd possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Fosu-Mensah, Smalling, Blind, Rojo; Schneiderlin, Fellaini, Lingard, Mata, Martial; Rooney

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Hennessey; Ward, Mariappa, Delaney, Souare; McArthur, Jedinak, Zaha, Puncheon, Sako; Adebayor

Head To Head

Manchester United have never lost a Premier League match against Crystal Palace, with 10 wins and three draws from their previous 13 meetings in the division.

Palace have failed to score in 10 of those 13 games, including five of six at Old Trafford where they have also lost each of their last eight league visits and have kept only one clean sheet in 18 attempts - a 1-0 win in October 1970.

The reverse fixture in October ended in a goalless draw at Selhurst Park, despite Palace dominating for large spells of that match.

We say: Man Utd 2-0 Crystal Palace

Manchester United are not an easy team to beat at Old Trafford and, while that may not be enough for many of their fans, it should be enough for them to get a result in this match. Palace showed what they can do against Arsenal and have the players to hurt United on the counter-attack, but with safety now all but guaranteed they may take their foot off the pedal ahead of the FA Cup semi-final at the weekend.