Manchester City are looking for a second successive Premier League win after some patchy form when they host Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon.
After travelling to Belgrade on Tuesday night, when a youthful Man City side came away with a 3-2 victory against Red Star, attention turns back to the Premier League title charge for Pep Guardiola and his players.
Despite a routine win looking likely for the Cityzens up against Palace, the Eagles have taken seven points from their last five matches at the Etihad.
Roy Hodgson, fresh from his tirade regarding the officials after his side’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool last time out, will be aiming to engineer an unlikely result in Manchester with a Palace side currently slumped in 15th having underwhelmed in the Premier League.
Here is the lowdown on Man City’s clash with Palace this Saturday.
Man City vs Crystal Palace H2H record (last five games)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Country |
TV channel / live stream |
|---|---|
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United Kingdom |
BBC Radio 5 Live |
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United States |
NBC Sports App, nbcsports.com, Telemundo, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, USA Network, UNIVERSO |
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Canada |
fuboTV Canada |
Jack Grealish is one of Man City‘s attacking injury doubts after the winger was substituted at half-time of their meeting with Red Star midweek. The Englishman appeared to sustain a knock to his hip partway through the first half and was replaced by Phil Foden at the break.
The big worry for Guardiola is the fitness of star striker Erling Haaland, who is a significant doubt for the clash with Palace as he continues to nurse a foot injury. It’s expected that he will probably miss out on the Eagles’ visit, but there is a slim chance he will feature.
Jeremy Doku could return after picking up a muscular injury against Tottenham Hotspur in early December and will likely be needed if Grealish is also absent for Guardiola. However, the Belgian’s place in the squad is not assured after missing out on the trip to Serbia entirely.
Kevin De Bruyne is still sidelined and faces a race against time to feature this calendar year.
Man City predicted lineup (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Walker, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol; Rodri, Kovacic; Silva, Nunes, Foden; Alvarez.
Palace have plenty of fitness concerns to contend with at present, but one man who will definitely miss out on the trip to Manchester is Jordan Ayew following his red card against Liverpool. Teammates Cheick Doucoure, Rob Holding and Eberechi Eze will also be absent for the journey to the Etihad.
There are some issues between the sticks for the Eagles. Sam Johnstone was substituted during the game against Liverpool and Dean Henderson is still sidelined. Inexperienced goalkeeper Remi Matthews may be called upon by Hodgson.
Jefferson Lerma was also withdrawn against Liverpool with a hamstring injury and the Man City game may come too soon for him, while Odsonne Edouard is another fitness doubt.
Left-back Tyrick Mitchell will almost certainly be absent, with Nathaniel Clyne set to fill in.
Crystal Palace predicted lineup (4-3-3): Johnstone; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Clyne; Hughes, Richards, Ahamada; Olise, Edouard, Schlupp.
Crystal Palace’s stack of absentees and generally dismal form should make this a fairly straightforward afternoon for Man City.
The champions rarely drop points at home against the lesser sides in the division and should waltz to a comfortable victory on Saturday, especially given some of the team’s big hitters got a rest midweek against Red Star.
Prediction: Man City 2-0 Crystal Palace
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