With the season heading into the final stretch, the Eagles step up to have their say in the title race with City needing the points to stay ahead of Liverpool, but Vieira and his players will only have eyes on adding to their own points tally.
DATE
14th March 2022
KICK OFF
8pm
VENUE
Selhurst Park, Holmesdale Road, London SE25 6PU
LAST TIME
City last came to town in May 2021 when two quick fire second half goals from Sergio Aguero and Ferran Torres sealed all three points for the visitors.
WHO SCORED MAN OF THE MATCH – Ferran Torres (8.4)
OFFICIALS
Referee: Martin Atkinson. Assistants: Lee Betts, Richard West. Fourth official: Simon Hooper. VAR: Jarred Gillett. Assistant VAR: Harry Lennard
TEAM NEWS
PALACE – Nathan Ferguson (injury) continues to miss out while Joel Ward (groin) and James McArthur (knock) may not feature
CITY – Ruben Dias (thigh) is ruled out while Zack Steffen (back) and Cole Palmer (ankle) are unlikely to feature. Nathan Ake (other) and Joao Cancelo (illness) are doubts
DISCIPLINARY
RED CARDS – Wilfried Zaha (1), Aymeric Laporte (1)
YELLOW CARDS (5+) – Conor Gallagher (7), Joel Ward (6), Aymeric Laporte (5), Joao Cancelo (5), Bernardo Silva (5), Rodri (5), Ruben Dias (5)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 30/10/21 City 0-2 Palace
- 01/05/21 Palace 0-2 City
- 17/01/21 City 4-0 Palace
- 18/01/20 City 2-2 Palace
- 19/10/19 Palace 0-2 City
Last FIVE results for Palace:
- 05/03/22 Wolves 0-2 Palace
- 01/03/22 Palace 2-1 Stoke
- 26/02/22 Palace 1-1 Burnley
- 23/02/22 Watford 1-4 Palace
- 19/02/22 Palace 0-1 Chelsea
Last FIVE results for City;
- 09/03/22 City 0-0 Sporting
- 06/03/22 City 4-1 United
- 01/03/22 Peterborough 0-2 City
- 26/02/22 Everton 0-1 City
- 19/02/22 City 2-3 Spurs
RECORD AGAINST CITY
- Played 66
- Won 17
- Drawn 14
- Lost 35
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
- Kevin de Bruyne 7.45
- Joao Cancelo 7.45
- Conor Gallagher 7.28
- Wilfried Zaha 6.88
ONE TO WATCH
BERNARDO SILVA
FORMER CLUBS – Benfica, Monaco
The Portuguese midfielder has been in great form of late and has just passed making 150 appearances for the club. The danger he possesses is popping up into positions you least expect him to and he is one of those players who works so hard for the team across the pitch.
KEY CLASH
JOACHIM ANDERSEN v PHIL FODEN
There will be a number of compelling match ups all across the pitch but the pressure will be on our back line with the way that City play without an out and out striker. It will be less of an aerial threat but the defence will need to be on their game. Foden can create damage to any side so it will be interesting to see Andersen do his best to extinguish that threat.
PRE-MATCH FACTS
- Palace are aiming to complete a league double over City for the first time since 1987-88 in the second tier
- Palace’s only win in their last 11 home fixtures versus City in all competitions came in April 2015
- Palace have won 2 of their past 3 league games, as many victories as they enjoyed in their previous 14 (D5, L7)
- Palace have lost only 1 of their last 8 matches in all competitions, a 1-0 home league defeat against Chelsea on 19 February
- They have taken 1 point from their 4 Premier League home fixtures in 2022
- The Eagles are aiming to win both top-flight matches against the reigning champions in a single season for the first time
- City have won all 21 league matches in which they scored the opening goal this season
- City are unbeaten in 13 away league games since losing on the opening weekend of the season against Spurs (W11, D2)
- If they win all of their remaining 5 away league fixtures this campaign, they will equal the top-flight record for most away victories in a single season: 16, set by Spurs in 1960-61 and matched by City in 2017-18
- Riyad Mahrez has scored 13 goals in his last 14 City appearances and is their top scorer this season with 21
- Kevin de Bruyne has 7 goals and 3 assists in his last 11 Premier League appearances
PRE-MATCH STATS
- GOALS – Wilfried Zaha (9 – 11th in PL)
- ASSISTS – Michael Olise (5 – 12th in PL)
- PASSES – Marc Guehi (1757 – 8th in PL)
- TACKLES – Tyrick Mitchell (86 – 2nd in PL)
- TOUCHES – Marc Guehi (2039 – 11th in PL)
- SHOTS – Wilfried Zaha (43)
- SAVES – Guaita (64 – 13th in PL)
DID YOU KNOW?
City adopted a red and black away kit colour in the Sixties after former assistant manager Malcolm Allison felt adopting the colours of AC Milan would inspire City to glory. The theory worked, as they won the 1969 FA Cup, 1970 League Cup and 1970 European Cup Winners’ Cup in red and black stripes
PREDICTION
City will not have this all their won way but there is a big incentive for them to continue to keep Liverpool at bay. Vieira will have no interest in any of that and will be keen for the Eagles to take something from this game, regardless of what it means for the opponents. It will be a quite compelling match up and Palace will make a game of it for sure.
FINAL SCORE: 2-1 City
BETTING ODDS
- Home – 17/2
- Draw – 4/1
- Away – 3/10
- Both teams to score – evens
RESOURCES
