The final game before Christmas sees the Eagles make the ominous trip to the Etihad in a damage limitation exercise.
In recent season, the fixture has been less than kind to Palace with two 5-0 defeats and one 4-0 loss in the last three visits alone. In fact, Palace have only managed one goal against City over the last six encounters but the last meeting between the two was a goalless draw at Selhurst Park which really should have been a win for the hosts.
The majority have this down as a ‘free hit’ but in times like these points should be grabbed with both hands at every opportunity, no matter who the opposition is.
With City finding their way through to the Carabao Cup semi-finals in the week in what turned out to be a more long winded quarter final against Leicester, their focus will return to the Premier League with the aim of returning to top spot.
Roy Hodgson will be buoyed by the valuable three points gained over a poor Leicester City side last weekend without James Tomkins and Wilfried Zaha. Both are expected to return to the line up for the trip to take on the Champions but it will be more interesting to see is Spanish goalkeeper Vicente Guaita keeps his place after an impressive debut.
TEAM NEWS (courtesy of Physio Room)
CRYSTAL PALACE – Cheikhou Kouyate (knock) is a slight doubt as is Wayner Hennessey (back) while Christian Benteke (knee) continues to miss out.
MANCHESTER CITY – Vincent Kompany (muscular) is a major doubt while Danilo (knock), Claudio Bravo (Achilles), Eliaquim Mangala (knee), Benjamin Mendy (knee) and David Silva (hamstring) are not available.
ACTION REPLAY
The last time the two sides met was at Selhurst Park on New Years Eve last year. After a terrific battling display by the Eagles, they rightly felt disappointed at not taking all three points after Luka Milivojevic missed a last minute spot kick. However, the match was remembered for serious injuries to Scott Dann and Jason Puncheon, the latter from hacking down Kevin de Bruyne who was stretchered off only to play for City the following midweek!
Who Scored man of the match – Nicolas Otamendi (7.9)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 31/12/2017 Crystal Palace 0-0 Manchester City
- 23/09/2017 Manchester City 5-0 Crystal Palace
- 06/05/2017 Manchester City 5-0 Crystal Palace
- 28/01/2017 Crystal Palace 0-1 Manchester City
- 19/11/2016 Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester City
Last FIVE results for Palace;
- 15/12/2017 Crystal Palace 1-0 Leicester City
- 08/12/2018 West Ham United 3-2 Crystal Palace
- 04/12/2018 Brighton & Hove Albion 3-1 Crystal Palace
- 01/12/2018 Crystal Palace 2-0 Burnley
- 24/11/2018 Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace
Last FIVE results for City;
- 18/12/2018 Leicester City 1-1 Manchester City
- 15/12/2018 Manchester City 3-1 Everton
- 12/12/2018 Manchester City 2-1 Hoffenheim
- 08/12/2018 Chelsea 2-0 Manchester City
- 04/12/2018 Watford 1-2 Manchester City
THE RECORD AGAINST CITY
- Played 59
- Won 15
- Drawn 13
- Lost 31
FORM PLAYERS (courtesy of Who Scored)
Top two rated players from each team so far this season;
- Raheem Sterling 7.83
- Sergio Aguero 7.69
- Aaron Wan-Bissaka 7.27
- Luka Milivojevic 7.06
ONE TO WATCH
LEROY SANE
Former clubs – SG Wattenscheid 09, Schalke 04, Bayer Leverkusen
It is no secret how dangerous the German winger can be but after a slow start to the season, Sane has found his way back into the team and is putting in some impressive performances. It is easy to forget that the winger is only 22 years of age and only made his professional debut in 2014 while at Schalke. He made his international debut in 2015 and has only amassed a handful of appearances for Germany. The disappointment at missing out on the World Cup squad has been evident and may have contributed to his struggles to hold down a first team place at City this season until recent weeks.
PREDICTION
With our recent record at the Etihad amassing a large number of goals for the hosts, it would be an achievement to return to South London off the back of a defeat by a couple of goals. Perhaps our aim this season is to score in an effort to stem the flow a little but let us hope it is our turn to be the underdog having its day on Saturday and cause a shock. We’re not back on it, a loss but not as bad as in previous seasons.
- TEB prediction – home win
- Who Scored prediction – home win
BETTING ODDS (courtesy of Paddy Power)
- Home – 1/8
- Draw – 8/1
- Away – 19/1
- Both teams to score – 19/20
Find out what Richard Burns told TEB in our summer feature ‘View From The Opposition’
