In a busy week that sees three tough games for Palace against both title challengers and fierce rivals on the South Coast, Patrick Vieira must find a way of taking some points to set the side up for the run in that follows.
TIME/ DATE/ VENUE
- 5.30pm
- 11th March 2023
- Selhurst Park, Holmesdale Road, London SE25 6PU
PREVIOUS MEETING
The last time City came to town Palace pulled of a creditable draw almost a year to the day. Of course, the statistics favoured the visitors with the woodwork taking a bit of a battering the Eagles were good for the point.
WHO SCORED MAN OF THE MATCH – Joao CANCELO (8.5)
OFFICIALS
- Referee: Robert Jones
- Assistants: Ian Hussin, Dan Robathan
- Fourth official: Thomas Bramall
- VAR: Neil Swarbrick
- Assistant VAR: Steve Meredith
TEAM NEWS
PALACE – Cheick Doucoure misses out through suspension following his red card against Villa last weekend. Sam Johnstone is expected to miss out once again due to a calf injury while Nathan Ferguson continues his return to fitness.
CITY – Phil Foden is the only current doubt for the visitors who is nursing a foot injury which will be assessed.
DISCIPLINARY THIS SEASON
RED CARDS – Tyrick Mitchell (1), James Tomkins (1), Cheick Doucoure (1)
YELLOW CARDS (5+) – Cheick Doucoure (8), Marc Guehi (7), Jeffrey Schlupp (5), Joachim Andersen (5)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 27/08/22 City 4-2 Palace
- 14/03/22 Palace 0-0 City
- 30/10/21 City 0-2 Palace
- 01/05/21 Palace 0-2 City
- 17/01/21 City 4-0 Palace
Last FIVE results for Palace:
- 04/03/23 Villa 1-0 Palace
- 25/02/23 Palace 0-0 Liverpool
- 18/02/23 Brentford 1-1 Palace
- 13/02/23 Palace 1-1 Brighton
- 04/02/23 United 2-1 Palace
Last FIVE results for City;
- 04/03/23 City 2-0 Newcastle
- 28/02/23 Bristol City 0-3 City
- 25/02/23 Bournemouth 1-4 City
- 22/02/23 Leipzig 1-1 City
- 18/02/23 Forest 1-1 City
LEAGUE POSITION
Heading into the fixture, Palace are 12th in the Premier League with 27 points from 25 games played while City are 2nd with 58 points from 26 games.
RECORD AGAINST CITY
- Played 68
- Won 17
- Drawn 15
- Lost 36
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
- Erling Haaland 7.57
- Kevin De Bruyne 7.56
- Joachim Andersen 6.86
- Wilfried Zaha 6.85
ONE TO WATCH
ERLING HAALAND
FORMER CLUBS – Bryne, Molde, Red Bull Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund
The 22-year-old is a freak of nature and has taken the Premier League by storm as expected this season. If City players had managed to get used to playing with an out and out striker sooner than they actually did then the Norwegian striker would likely have hit the back of the net more than the 25 times he has done already.
KEY CLASH
ALBERT SAMBI LOKONGA v KEVIN DE BRUYNE
Without opting for the obvious match up of who is going to face up to the challenge Haaland poses to the Palace defence, we have gone for the challenge Lokonga will face who has quietly yet impressively gone about his business since joining the club. He will be up against the quality of De Bruyne and others so it will be interesting to see how he fares.
PRE-MATCH FACTS
- Palace have only scored once in 6 home games against City. That goal was scored by Luka Milivojevic
- In fact, Palace have had more luck scoring against City away from home (9 goals in 5 games)
- The Eagles are winless in their past seven league home games against Manchester City (D2 L5), since a 2-1 win in April 2015. They’ve failed to score in 5 of 7 games, including each of the last 3
- Palace have failed to win their last 9 league matched
- City have kept a clean sheet in 5 of the last 6 games against Palace at Selhurst Park in all competitions
- No team has conceded fewer goals from set piece situations in the Premier League this season than Palace (5, including penalties), while the Eagles have netted a league-high share 43% of their goals from set pieces this term (9/21)
- Each of City’s past 9 goals against Palace in the league have come in the second half of games, with the Citizens failing to score in the opening 45 minutes in each of their past four against the Eagles
- Though they’re unbeaten in their past 3 away league games, City have already dropped more points in away league games this season (15) than they did in the whole of 2021-22 (11)
PRE-MATCH STATS
- GOALS – Wilfried Zaha (6)
- ASSISTS – Michael Olise (5 – 10th in PL)
- PASSES – Marc Guehi (1334 – 15th in PL)
- TACKLES – Cheick Doucoure (59 – 7th in PL)
- TOUCHES – Marc Guehi (1619)
- SHOTS – Wilfried Zaha (43)
- FOULS – Jeffrey Schlupp (38 – 4th in PL)
- DISPOSSESSED – Wilfried Zaha (71 – 1st in PL)
- SAVES – Vicente Guaita (81 – 4th in PL)
DID YOU KNOW?
City topped the Deloitte Football Money League at the end of the 2020–21 season, making it the football club with the highest revenue in the world, approximated at €644.9 million. In 2021, Forbes estimated the club was the sixth most valuable in the world, worth $4 billion.
PREDICTION
We are all hoping for a battling display and there is some hope after creditable draws against both Manchester United and Liverpool in recent weeks so it can be done. However, while City will have one eye on their Champions League second leg match against Leipzig, they will be keen to keep the pressure on Arsenal at the top of the Premier League with a victory at Selhurst Park.
FINAL SCORE: 3-1 to City
BETTING ODDS
- Home – 8/1
- Draw – 15/4
- Away – 1/3
- Both teams to score – 11/10
RESOURCES
