A look at City’s weekend opponents
Manchester City travel to South London to take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park as they continue to hunt Arsenal down at the top of the Premier League. The Blues moved to within two points of the Gunners following their 3-0 victory over Sunderland followed Arsenal’s 2-1 loss at Aston Villa.
And the Blues will be spurred on following the midweek 2-1 victory at Real Madrid in the Champions League, which leaves the Blues in fourth place and boosts their chances of automatic qualification to the quarter final.
Palace, meanwhile, increased their chances of automatic qualification in the Conference League with a comfortable 3-0 win at Shelbourne to leave them in 9th place, just one spot off the qualifying places. Big things were expected from Palace this season after their FA Cup win last May and they haven’t disappointed.
Form
Palace started the season in fine fashion, winning the Community Shield, then embarking on a ten-match unbeaten run that ended with their first loss of the season at Everton. That seemed to be a catalyst for a poor run of form that saw them win just one more match in October – a 3-0 win at Liverpool in the League Cup.
The Eagles then won three out of their following four fixtures, but lost in the league for the first time at home as Manchester United recorded a 2-1 win at the end of November. Palace have rallied since then, beating Burnley and Fulham on their travels, before the Conference League win in Ireland. Saturday’s match against the Blues will be their first home match this month in any competition.
Seven wins from their first fifteen matches has put Palace in fourth place in the Premier League, four points behind Aston Villa, giving the table a completely different look to what we are used to seeing.
Danger Men
Despite losing Eberechi Eze to Arsenal over the summer, Palace haven’t felt his loss too much. Jean-Philippe Mateta has taken on the main goal-scoring duties, hitting seven so far this season from 15 matches. The French striker has attempted 41 shots, and a goal conversion rate of 17%.
His last goal came at the end of November, scoring a penalty in the 36th minute to give Palace the lead over Manchester United, and he averages a goal every 177 minutes which, I think, means he is due one soon…hopefully next week.
Four players have two assists for Palace. Adam Wharton, Maxence Lacroix, Daniel Munoz and Marc Guehi have all provided the goals this season, and Yeremy Pino, Ismaila Sarr and Jefferson Lerma each have one apiece.
Wharton and Pino both provided assists in their last match against Fulham, but you have to go back to 18th October and a 3-3 draw with Bournemouth to find an assist from one of the leading four – Munoz setting up Mateta in the 64th minute to trigger Palace’s comeback from 2-0 down.
The Boss
Oliver Glasner is the man bringing hope and success to Selhurst Park. The Austrian joined the Eagles in February 2024, taking over from Roy Hodgson and just a year later, led the club to their first major trophy win.
Glasner has managed 86 matches, winning 41 and losing just 20, giving him a win ratio of 48%.
Last Time at Selhurst Park
Last season, the Blues secured a point at Palace, despite having Rico Lewis sent off six minutes from time. Munoz had put Palace ahead after 6 minutes, but Erling Haaland levelled on the half-hour mark. Lacroix put Palace back in front in the 56th minute, only for Lewis to draw City level for the second time 12 minutes later, before seeing red late on.
Category: General Sports
