Premier League: Crystal Palace vs Manchester City Preview and Prediction

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Manchester City will look to return to the top of the table when they travel to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola’s men are currently second in the table with 80 points, two points behind leaders Liverpool. However, they do have a game in hand which allows them to go back on top next week, if they can win that extra match.

While City are in a red-hot streak in the league, winning their last five league games, they did lose their most recent game against Tottenham in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals first leg.

Thus, Guardiola would want his team to get back to winning ways against Palace before they look to overturn the one-goal deficit against Tottenham in the UCL next Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Palace are almost done with their season in a lot of terms. They are not in contention in any of the cups, mostly safe from relegation and 7 points behind 10th-placed Watford, having played a game more.

Thus Roy Hodgson’s men do not have much to play for compared to a lot of other teams in the league. They sit comfortably in 13th place with 39 points, 3 points behind West Ham in 11th.

However, Palace are a bogey team for every top-six side and even more so at home. The impending Champions League tie for City on Wednesday further adds to the match narrative.

Injuries

Roy Hodgson will be without his first-choice center-backs Mamadou Sakho and James Tomkins, which could see Scott Dann partner Martin Kelly in the heart of the Eagles defense. Max Meyer is expected to be assessed before the match, giving the German an outside chance of featuring in the matchday squad.

Oleksandr Zinchenko looks set to miss out for Guardiola’s team along with Bernardo Silva who is expected to be fit for the next game. It remains to be seen how many changes will Pep make considering the high stakes in both tournaments.

Head-to-Head

Crystal Palace are the only team to beat Manchester City at the Etihad in the Premier League this season. Further, the Eagles held the leagues’ top scorers to a 0-0 draw in the same fixture last season.

Crystal Palace vs Manchester City Prediction

While Palace have won 3 of their last five games in the league, the absence of their first-choice center-backs could reduce their chances of notching up another win, considering Manchester City’s quality and depth.

Thus, City are favorites for the match-up despite their recent head-to-head as they look to pick up the 13th win in their last 14 PL games.

Manchester City AH -1.5 @ 1.95 at Pinnacle Sports

Predicted Line-ups

Crystal Palace Predicted XI: Guaita; Wan-Bissaka, Kelly, Dann, Van Aanholt; Townsend, McArthur, Milivojevic, Schlupp; Batshuayi, Zaha

Manchester City Predicted XI: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Laporte, Mendy; Fernandino, De Bruyne, David Silva; Sterling, Sane, Jesus

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