Things certainly do not get any easier as Roy Hodgson takes his limping squad up to the Etihad to pit his wits against Pepe Guardiola and Manchester City.
MATCH INFORMATION
- 3pm – 16th December 2023
- Etihad Stadium, Etihad Campus, Ashton New Road, Manchester M11 3FF
PREVIOUS MEETING
Back in August 2022, the Eagles almost caused a stir in the Premier League after taking an early two goal lead against City. An own goal from John Stones and a Joachim Andersen striker had Palace fans wondering if they could hold on after such a fantastic start but four second half goals put paid to that – Bernardo Silva, and an Erling Haaland 19 minute hat-trick ensure parity was restored.
MAN OF THE MATCH – Erling Haaland (9.0)
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Paul Tierney. Assistants: Richard West, Scott Ledger. Fourth official: Darren England. VAR: Stuart Attwell. Assistant VAR: Ian Hussin.
TEAM NEWS
PALACE – Cheick Doucoure, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, Rob Holding, Dean Henderson, Eberechi Eze, Jordan Ayew, Sam Johnstone, and Odsonner Edouard are all expected to be out. Tyrick Mitchell and Jefferson Lerma are doubts.
CITY – Kevin de Bruyne and Jeremy Doku miss out while Erling Haaland is a doubt.
DISCIPLINARY RECORD
RED CARDS – Jordan Ayew (1), Rodri (1), Manuel Akanji (1)
YELLOW CARDS (4+) – Rodri (6), Jack Grealish (5), Jordan Ayew (4), Joel Ward (4)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 11/03/23 Palace 0-1 City
- 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
Last FIVE results for Palace:
- 09/12/23 Palace 1-2 Liverpool
- 06/12/23 Palace 0-2 Bournemouth
- 03/12/23 West Ham 1-1 Palace
- 24/11/23 Luton 2-1 Palace
- 11/11/23 Palace 2-3 Everton
Last FIVE results for City;
- 13/12/23
- 10/12/23 Luton Town 1-2 City
- 06/12/23 Aston Villa 1-0 City
- 03/12/23 City 3-3 Spurs
- 28/11/23 City 3-2 RB Leipzig
LEAGUE POSITION
Heading into the fixture, Palace are 15th in the Premier League with 16 points from 16 games played, while City are 4th with 33 points.
RECORD AGAINST CITY
- Played 69
- Won 17
- Drawn 15
- Lost 37
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
- Jeremy Doku 7.61
- Erling Haaland 7.53
- Eberechi Eze 7.40
- Joachim Andersen 7.03
ONE TO WATCH
JEREMY DOKU
FORMER CLUBS – KVC Olympic Deurne, Tubantia Borgerhout, Beerschot, Anderlecht, Rennes
The winger was a surprise addition to the City squad last summer but has had the desired effect in his short time at the club by providing Pep Guardiola with another option in wide positions.
KEY CLASH
JOEL WARD v JACK GREALISH
The defender and club captain has just passed Wilfried Zaha for the most Premier League appearances by a Palace player, and is well on his way to reaching 300 this season. However, he will have a tough time at the Etihad in testing circumstances and likely facing the tricky England attacking midfielder.
PRE-MATCH STATS
- GOALS – Odsonne Edouard (6 – 11th in PL)
- ASSISTS – Jordan Ayew/ Jean-Philippe Mateta (3)
- PASSES – Joachim Andersen (965– 17th in PL)
- TACKLES – Ayew/ Doucoure/ Mitchell (34– 20th in PL)
- TOUCHES – Joachim Andersen (1193 – 19th in PL)
- SHOTS – Odsonne Edouard (39 – 10th in PL)
- FOULS – Jordan Ayew (27 – 6th in PL)
- DISPOSSESSED – Jordan Ayew (48 – 1st in PL)
- SAVES – Sam Johnstone (34 – 17th in PL)
- CLEARANCES – Joachim Andersen (84 – 2nd in PL)
- BIG CHANCES MISSED – Jordan Ayew/ Odsonne Edouard (4)
THE NUMBERS
City have lost 2 of their past 16 Premier League games against Palace, though both defeats in this run have come at the Etihad Stadium.
Roy Hodgson’s Palace won 1-0 at Manchester United earlier this season. The last team to win away at both Manchester clubs in a Premier League season were Leicester in 2020-21, while Hodgson could become the first English manager to do so since Steve McClaren in 2003-04.
Since Pep Guardiola was appointed City manager, only Manchester United (3) have won more away league games against the Citizens than Palace (2).
Though they’re unbeaten in their past 18 Premier League home games, City’s last two at the Etihad Stadium have both finished level (1-1 v Liverpool, 3-3 v Tottenham). They’ve not failed to win 3 consecutive home league games since 2016.
Palace have won 68.8% of their Premier League points in away games so far this season (11/16), the highest ratio in the division. Three of the Eagles’ 4 wins so far have come on the road, winning more games in the north west of the country (2) than in London (1).
TEB PREDICTION
With injuries returning to hit Palace hard, this will be an even more difficult trip that usual and perhaps Hodgson and his coaching staff will see it as damage limitation. Having said that. the hosts have not been in great form of later are currently sit further down the table currently that many expected. Could a struggling Palace side both in terms of form and available players spring a surprise? Probably unlike, but we can all hope.
FINAL SCORE: 2-0 to City
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