Manchester City welcome Crystal Palace to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday with Pep Guardiola’s side aiming to make it four straight wins with victory over the Eagles.
City have moved back up to second in table following a thumping 6-1 win against Aston Villa in their previous game. A Sergio Aguero hat-trick, along with a brace from Riyad Mahrez and a goal from Gabriel Jesus saw Guardiola’s side thrash Villa.
The reigning Premier League champions enjoyed 71% of the possession at Villa Park and managed to notch up 22 shots to Villa’s seven. Aguero also become the highest scoring overseas player in Premier League history in the process.
City still remain 14 points behind the runaway league leaders Liverpool. So, with the title race all but over, Guardiola will be focused on maintaining his side’s winning run and cementing second place.
Three straight 1-1 draws have left Crystal Palace stuck in mid-table. Roy Hogdson’s side failed to hold onto their lead against Southampton, before coming from behind the rescue a point against both Norwich and Arsenal.
Jordan Ayew scored Palace’s goal against the Gunners, but Hodgson will feel his side could have gone on to claim all three points last time out. Arsenal had Aubameyang sent off just after the hour mark, but Palace failed to make their man advantage count.
It’s worth pointing out the Palace have a better defensive record than Man City in the Premier League this season. Palace have conceded 24, while City have let in 25.
Having said that, Guardiola’s side have scored over three times as many goals as Palace. City are the league’s top scorers with 62, while the Eagles have only scored 20 – the joint lowest total in the division.
Looking at the head-to-head record, Man City have won nine of their last eleven meetings between the two teams. City have scored exactly five goals on three occasions during that time, and they’ve also scored over 2.5 goals in six of their last ten games against Palace.
Man City’s injury list has finally shortened after a tricky spell with many players sidelined. Long-term absentees Aymeric Laporte and Leroy Sane are both still out, but neither player is too far away from returning to first team action.
On the other hand, Palace could have up to nine players missing this weekend. New signing Cenk Tosun could lead the line for the Eagles after joining on loan from Everton for the rest of the season.
City are in excellent form at the moment, so its’ going to be extremely difficult for Hodgson’s side to come away with anything from this game.
Forebet predicts that Man City will claim a comfortable victory while keeping a clean sheet.