Manchester City face a tough test as they welcome Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace to Etihad Stadium.
Should Chelsea and Liverpool both slip up elsewhere, victory would see City go top of the Premier League whereas Palace can climb to 13th with a win if Watford fail to win at home to Southampton.
Team News
Man City have no fresh injury concerns to report after Wednesday’s shock Carabao Cup exit on penalties at West Ham.
Ferran Torres (foot), Liam Delap (ankle) and Benjamin Mendy (personal) are still ruled out indefinitely.
Palace also have no fresh injury concerns to report as Ebrechi Eze and Nathan Ferguson remain ruled out with Achilles injuries.
Stat Attack
- Man City are unbeaten in their last five matches against Crystal Palace (W4, D1).
- Palace have claimed four points from their last five visits to Man City (W1, D1, L3).
- City have missed their only penalty kick against Palace in 22 Premier League meetings.
- No Premier League player has produced more passes in the opening nine matchweeks than City’s Joao Cancelo, who has produced 695 passes in nine league appearances.
- Conor Gallagher has converted seven of his 19 shots onto target for Palace this season.
Prediction
Having suffered a shock Carabao Cup exit at West Ham despite dominating the match, Man City will definitely be seeking a reaction here after how dominant they were at Brighton last weekend with control and clinical finishing on the counter-attack.
Palace meanwhile were dominant against Newcastle but wasted numerous chances despite defending well, yet will certainly cause issues if can take the game to Man City on the attack and defend well so this could well be a cracker.
City though need this win more especially heading into Wednesday’s crunch Champions League clash against Club Brugge, so I do fancy them to have the edge here but this won’t be easy given Palace’s improved form.
Prediction: Manchester City 2-1 Crystal Palace
Result: Manchester City 0-2 Crystal Palace