Manchester United boss Ten Hag faces a difficult choice of whether to send Casemiro to midweek, and the Brazilian iron will miss Sunday's battle against Arsenal if he receives another yellow card.
So far, the Reds remain the only team to beat Mikel Arteta in the league this season, with United beating the leaders 3-1 at Old Trafford in September. They are nine points behind the league leaders before heading to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, but before they have a game to play against Crystal Palace.
Casemiro, a ceremonial midfielder of the 'Galaxy Battleship', became part of the Red Devils in the summer transfer window for a whopping £60 million transfer fee. After the start of the season, Casemiro has become an integral part of Ten Hag's midfield. It is Casemiro's strong sweeping and interception ability in midfield, as well as the ability to tandem front and back, that completely liberates B Fei and Eriksen in the midfield trio, allowing them to devote more energy to the team's offensive grooming. At the same time, a rock-solid gate was built in front of the back line.
Now, however, the tough midfielder is suffering from red and yellow cards, having already received two yellow cards in his pre-World Cup game for Manchester United and two more since then, including one for his side in Saturday's win over the Manchester derby. If Casemiro receives another yellow card on Thursday at Selhurst Park, home of Crystal Palace, it would be his fifth yellow card of the season, resulting in a one-game suspension.
The fear is that once Casemiro is suspended, the midfield void left by his suspension is something that no one at Manchester United can fill at the moment. Brazilian midfielder Fred and young star Scott McTominay are both pure defensive midfielders, and although they can strengthen the hardness of the team's midfield when they play at the same time, neither has the ability to connect the team in tandem and organize the attack. This will undoubtedly delay the attacking and defensive transfers in Manchester United's midfield, and the ability to create chances will plummet. Worst of all, Fred is now also wearing 4 Topaz cards.
One possible option for United would be to have both men rotate against Crystal Palace and let Scott McTominay start and withdraw B from his position in the middle of the midfield, or act as the core of the team's attacking organisation. With Rinai and Erikson partnering at the back, Rinai takes on the dirty work of sweeping and intercepting in midfield, and Eriksen continues to use his skillful foot skills and broad vision to be responsible for the selection of the direction of the ball in the team's offensive and defensive transitions. The midweek match was the last in which the fifth yellow card resulted in a ban for a United player, as a yellow card suspension only applied to players with 10 yellow cards after halfway through the season.
Another option is to raise Lima to the back position to partner with Erikson, who was originally a back-back player at Ajax and then switched to a central defender, with strong interception ability and a certain ability to shoot the ball and forward awareness. His premise may have the effect of a surprise soldier.
A victory over Crystal Palace would temporarily climb Manchester United to second place in the table, which would also be their best ranking this season. However, defending champions Manchester City could overtake them on Friday, with the Blues hosting Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium this round.
After goals from B Fei and Marcus Rashford helped the Reds to win the derby, Manchester United manager Ten Hag said: "We've improved, that's obvious. But we still have a lot to improve in the game and there is still a long way to go. The fans may dream of winning the title, but we won't, we have to keep our feet on the ground and there is still a lot to improve in the face of our game. ”