Manchester United could temporarily close the gap on Premiership leaders Chelsea to a mere 3 points if tomorrow afternoon's trip to Crystal Palace proves successful.

Sir Alex Ferguson will urge his side to pile the pressure on the newly crowned Carling Cup winners as they face Norwich in a late Saturday evening kick-off.

Palace lurk just one place above the dreaded Premiership trap-door, picking up just 7 points from their past 6 league games.

The two sides have clashed on two other occasions this season and the Red Devils have come out on top in both fixtures. United thrashed the Eagles 5-2 in the league last December and sailed past them 2-0 in the Carling Cup back in November.

Palace revealed yesterday that they will refuse entrance to any United fan wearing an Eric Cantona face-mask at Selhurst Park, following the legendary Frenchman's karate-kicking incident in the early 90's.

A club statement read: "If they wear them inside Selhurst Park they will be immediately rejected on safety grounds."

"And no fans wearing Cantona masks will be allowed entry to the stadium." 

The tie will be used as preparation for the looming Champions League return leg with AC Milan for striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, revealed manager Sir Alex Ferguson. "He will be much better prepared to face Milan at the San Siro. He'll play in our next two matches against Portsmouth [United won 2-1] and Crystal Palace"

Meanwhile, Gary Neville will certainly miss out with an ankle problem whilst Palace doubts Darren Powell and Aki Riihilahti could make it for selection.

Iain Dowie conceded the tie will be a difficult one, but is always confident. He commented: "We have already played twice at Old Trafford this season and in the Carling Cup game we did not play very well. In the Premiership game we were a threat and at 4-2 down we had a number of good opportunities. Generally this season we have not given away too many bad goals."

ManUtdWeb Prediction: Crystal Palace 1 - 2 Manchester United - United are the most form team in the Premiership and will be looking to close in on Chelsea. They'll be up for this game.