Manchester City host Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon looking to keep pace with Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.
The reigning champions have lost just one league game this season, against Chelsea, and haven’t lost to an opponent outside of the supposed ‘big six’ since their 4-0 defeat to Everton in January 2017.
Pep Guardiola’s men have netted an astonishing 48 goals in 17 league games so far and although they were slightly fortunate to make it through their League Cup quarter-final against Leicester in midweek, winning on penalties, they did sweep aside Everton with consummate ease in their previous Premier League game.
Palace come to the Etihad having taken just one point from their last six Premier League away games, a 0-0 draw against Manchester United in November, and currently find themselves sitting 15th.
Roy Hodgson’s side are the joint-second lowest scorers in the Premier League with just 14 strikes from 17 games and will be looking nervously over their shoulder at the teams below them heading into this weekend.
Read on for Manchester City vs Crystal Palace live stream options, team news, predicted XIs, stats and TV channel info.
When is Manchester City vs Crystal Palace?
Competition: Premier League
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Date: Saturday, 22 December
Kick-off: 3 PM GMT
Match preview
The Chelsea defeat aside, there hasn’t been much to suggest anyone can stop Manchester City in the Premier League this season. Guardiola’s side are highest scorers in the league with 48 goals, while they also have the second-best defence, having conceded just 10 goals in 17 games so far.
That being said, they are being pushed much harder by Liverpool this season than they were by Manchester United last campaign, and they know they can afford no more slip-ups if they are to keep pace with Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Guardiola will be looking for a much more clinical performance than the one he watched in their League Cup win against Leicester in midweek, with the Foxes taking City all the way to penalties after a 1-1 draw. He will, however, be excited at the prospect of having Kevin De Bruyne back; the Belgian opened the scoring with a wonderful strike on Wednesday.
Crystal Palace are having a strange old season. Roy Hodgson’s side have put in a number of decent performances that would suggest they can challenge for a mid-table finish, but they simply don’t score enough goals.
Luka Milivojevic is the Eagles’ top scorer with four goals, but three of those have been penalties, while Wilfried Zaha is their highest Premier League scorer from open play with three. However, the Ivorian has now gone 10 Premier League games without a goal, dating back to Palace’s 1-0 win over Huddersfield in September.
This is an issue that seriously needs addressing for Palace; a trip to a rampant Manchester City side is probably not the best way to get over their issues, however.
Where can I watch live?
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace is a 3pm kick-off and is therefore unavailable to watch on live TV in the UK.
The game is available to watch on fuboTV for US-based viewers.
Will Kevin De Bruyne play?
(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Kevin De Bruyne made a triumphant return to the Man City starting line-up against Leicester in midweek, scoring the opening goal as the Citizens made yet another League Cup semi-final after beating the Foxes on penalties – the game ended 1-1 in normal time.
Kevin De Bruyne has scored his first goal for Man City in any competition since 22nd April 2018.
Back with a bang(er).
pic.twitter.com/VDZ0N7ji4L
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) December 18, 2018
If the Belgian was feeling the effects of his time in the sidelines, he showed little sign of it and put in a fantastic performance. This will be key for Guardiola heading into the busy festive schedule and with David Silva set to miss this weekend’s game against Palace, De Bruyne may well be thrown straight back in.
Can Zaha and Palace get back among the goals?
(Photo credit should read GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images)
As mentioned earlier, Wilfried Zaha is without a goal since September, while Palace have only managed 14 goals in 17 Premier League games this term.
Palace aren’t many people’s favourites for the drop this season, but if they can’t find that scoring touch soon then they may well get sucked into a relegation dogfight.
Saturday’s trip to the Etihad is arguably the worst possible game for them if they’re trying to rediscover their goalscoring touch; Palace are likely to spend most of the afternoon trying to keep City’s ruthless attackers at bay rather than going on the hunt for goals themselves.
Can Manchester City win every Premier League home game this season?
(Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
It’s nine out of nine so far at the Etihad for Manchester City, with victories against Manchester United and Everton included so far.
Their 33 goals in those nine games is a quite absurd record and given Palace’s away form this season, you can see that number increasing significantly.
The likes of Liverpool and Chelsea are yet to visit this season, but who would bet against them making it a 100% season at the Etihad? That starts this weekend.
Man City have won every single Premier League home game so far this season:
WWWWWWWWW
Goals: 32
Conceded: 6
Clean sheets: 3The Shark Team just keep eating. 🦈 pic.twitter.com/xB1qqU4Gde
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) December 15, 2018
Head-to-head
Saturday’s game will be the 60th time Manchester City and Crystal Palace have locked horns, with recent results weighing heavily in favour of the Citizens.
In all competitions, Man City have won 14 out of their last 16 meetings with Palace, and haven’t conceded a goal against the Londoners in their last four clashes.
This fixture also comes 28 years to the day since Palace’s last away win against City; a 2-0 victory at Maine Road.
Man City wins: 31 Draws: 13 Crystal Palace wins: 15
Team news
Kevin De Bruyne should be available for selection after making a scoring return to action in Tuesday’s League Cup tie at Leicester. Pep Guardiola will, however, still be without David Silva, Claudio Bravo, Eliaquim Mangala, Benjamin Mendy, Vincent Kompany and Danilo for Saturday’s game, with all six out injured.
Wilfried Zaha sat out Palace’s 1-0 win over Leicester City due to suspension but is expected to go straight back into the squad on Saturday. Cheikou Kouyate is doubtful after being forced off in that game through injury, while Christian Benteke’s long-standing knee injury will keep him sidelined once again.
Predicted Man City XI: Ederson; Walker, Laporte, Stones, Delph; Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Bernardo; Sane, Aguero, Sterling.
Predicted Crystal Palace XI: Guaita; Wan-Bissaka, Sakho, Kelly,Van Aanholt; Townsend, Meyer, Milivojevic, McArthur, Zaha; Ayew.
Squawka predictions
Manchester City’s last two away games have been challenging: a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea was followed up by a 1-1 draw with Leicester in the League Cup, eventually winning on penalties.
At home, however, City have been ruthless. Guardiola’s side have won all nine of their Premier League games at the Etihad this season, scoring an eye-watering 33 goals and only conceding six.
With Palace’s horrendous record at the Etihad and their struggles in front of goal this season, we can’t see anything other than a comfortable Manchester City win. Manchester City 3-0 Crystal Palace.
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace betting tips from FansBet
Manchester City have bounced back from their loss to Chelsea a few weeks back with wins over Hoffenheim, Everton and the midweek EFL Cup quarter-final clash with Leicester, and one expects that this will be four on the bounce come the final whistle against Crystal Palace this weekend.
Roy Hodgson’s men looked to have turned a corner at the tail end of last month, drawing at Old Trafford before going on to beat Burnley in their own backyard following a period of five losses from six winless games.
However, that was short lived as they’ve subsequently lost at both Brighton and West Ham. Although they managed to overcome the Foxes at Selhurst Park in their last outing, Claude Puel’s men have hardly been impressive recently and are currently on a run of one win from their last eight attempts in all competitions.
The post Manchester City v Crystal Palace predicitions, match preview & betting tips appeared first on Squawka News.
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