Crystal Palace vs. Manchester City: EPL Previews, odds and Predictions

On Saturday afternoon, Manchester City will travel to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace in a Premier League encounter. The two teams will be looking to win two games in as many days.

Last year, the Eagles drew 2-2 at Etihad Stadium to earn a point, but they lost 4-2 to Manchester City at home in April.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

Crystal Palace has won all six matches after losing three in a row from 28 September to 21 October, improving its survival chances with nine points. It had only lost once in its previous six matches.

On Tuesday night, the Eagles defeated Ipswich Town 1-0 away from home. Jean-Philippe Mateta scored in the second half to give the Eagles their second league victory and their first away-from-home triumph. Their unbeaten record now stands at three matches.

Despite Palace's lackluster performance, manager Oliver Glasner is confident in his team's progress and has cautioned them not to "sit back and relax" amid a hectic holiday fixture schedule.

Palace will be looking to improve their home record this term. They sit 17th in the league and are only three points above the relegation zone. Under Glasner, they won five of their first seven Premier League games at Selhurst Park last season, but this term, they have only won one of seven.

Nevertheless, winning on Saturday may be difficult for the Eagles since they have lost 12 of their past 18 Premier League encounters against Man City (D4 L12). The only two times they have won were in December 2018 and October 2020, both at the Etihad Stadium.

Man City was in crisis mode after losing six of their last seven games and conceding nineteen goals. However, Pep Guardiola's squad reversed their terrible run of form with a 3-0 victory against Nottingham Forest at home on Wednesday, which boosted confidence.

The Citizens won all three points for the first time since October, thanks to goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku, and Bernardo Silva. The defending champions had kept only three clean sheets all season.

A little over a week ago, in the Champions League, Guardiola's team "weren't truly relaxed until the final whistle" after wasting a three-goal lead against Feyenoord in the last fifteen minutes. Despite this, he was happy to see City "break this routine of not winning games" last Saturday.

As of this writing, Man City is in fourth place in the Premier League. While many have said that their title hopes have died, they gained two points on leaders Liverpool thanks to their win over Forest in midweek. Liverpool are now nine points ahead of Guardiola's squad following Wednesday's 3-3 draw with Newcastle United.

Before Saturday's match, Man City had lost their previous five away games in all competitions. They last had a six-game losing streak in February 1994; in fact, the last time a reigning Premier League title team suffered a six-game losing streak on the road was Man City in 1968–69.

After all, Manchester City have won seven of their past nine Premier League away games against Crystal Palace, including last season's 4-2 triumph at Selhurst Park in April. So, they should be sure of a win this time around.

Crystal Palace x Manchester City Team News

Adam Wharton (groin), Matheus Franca (both groin and knee), and Chadi Riad (knee) are all still out with injuries for Crystal Palace. However, Adam Wharton and Matheus Franca may be able to make a comeback this month.

Glasner has verified that Cheick Doucoure's replacement at halftime against Ipswich was due to a booking rather than an injury. Thus, Doucoure should be able to start. The Mali national team member will be in a midfield clash with Jefferson Lerma and Will Hughes.

After serving a three-match ban, Daichi Kamada is eligible for selection. He might start in midfield or provide Mateta and Eberechi Eze with attacking assistance.

In terms of Man City injuries, Nathan Ake (hamstring), Oscar Bobb (leg fracture), Mateo Kovacic (unspecified), John Stones (foot), and Rodri (ACL) will all be out for a while.

Before the start, Manuel Akanji will be evaluated after his halftime withdrawal from the Forest match with an undisclosed injury. At the same time, Phil Foden is also questionable after sitting out last week's victory with bronchitis.

While Ake and Akanji might be injured, Josko Gvardiol could start in central defense again. Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, who is 19 years old, could start alongside Ruben Dias, and Kyle Walker and Rico Lewis could play fullbacks.

De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, and Jack Grealish are among the players Guardiola will consider starting the second game in as many days as possible. Goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, who has replaced Ederson for three games in a row, might also get the nod.

Our Predictions

Manchester City to win @ 1.60 on Sky247.ng

Despite keeping a scoreless draw last week, Man City is still a weak defensive unit. On the other hand, Crystal Palace will be confident in their chances to score, having scored multiple goals against Guardiola's team six times since he joined the club in 2016—only Tottenham has nine such occurrences in that time frame.

We can envisage the visitors taking all three points at Selhurst Park if Manchester City can repeat their self-assured performance from midweek and if players like Kevin de Bruyne can lead the line in the middle of the field.

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