Man City vs Crystal Palace Preview: Classic Encounter, Team News, Predictions & More

It's top against bottom on Saturday as Manchester City welcome Crystal Palace to the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola's men are flying at the moment, having

It's top against bottom on Saturday as Manchester City welcome Crystal Palace to the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola's men are flying at the moment, having plundered 17 goals in their last four matches across all competitions, and they will definitely sense a big opportunity for three points at the weekend.

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Crystal Palace, in contrast, are struggling massively and have failed to win a single game so far in the Premier League, failing to score.

Roy Hodgson already finds himself under pressure having taken over from the calamitous Frank de Boer, but a win in midweek against Huddersfield in the Carabao Cup could give them a smidgen of hope.

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The Eagles find themselves bottom after five games, but actually aren't the worst defensive team in the division - Bournemouth, West Ham, Everton, Leicester, Watford and Liverpool have all conceded more.

That said, they face their toughest game of the season so far on Saturday and their eight goals conceded could easily surpass 10 given the form of Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus, Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva.

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Everything points to a comprehensive City win but as everybody knows, this is a Premier League match and anything could happen.

Classic Encounter

Man City 5-0 Crystal Palace

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City were ruthless in the same fixture last season, but their performance came too late to mean anything in terms of a title challenge after some poor results earlier in the campaign.

David Silva put the Citizens ahead within two minutes and the home side then dominated proceedings against Sam Allardyce's men. Vincent Kompany doubled the lead early in the second half and Kevin De Bruyne made sure of the three points 10 minutes later.

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Further goals from Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Otamendi meant that City leapfrogged Liverpool into third in the table on goal difference, where they would remain until the end of the season.

De Bruyne and Silva ran the show that day, and many have tipped the creative duo to do exactly the same when Palace come to town on Saturday.

Team News

Pep Guardiola's City are close to full strength and the former Barcelona manager has the luxury of being able to call on some top class talents.

One player who will be unavailable is Ilkay Gundogan, who picked up a 'non-serious' knee injury against West Brom in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.

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Captain Vincent Kompany has resumed training following a short spell on the sidelines with a calf problem and could be in contention to start.

Crystal Palace defender Pape Souare made an emotional return to action against Huddersfield after a year out following a horrific car crash, after which he feared would never walk again - he is likely to be on the bench on Saturday.

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Elsewhere, Connor Wickham remains a long-term absentee, and star man Wilfried Zaha still has a few weeks left in his recovery from a knee injury - Roy Hodgson hopes he will be back in time for the Chelsea match.

Predicted Lineups

Predicted Manchester City XI: Ederson, Stones, Kompany, Otamendi, Walker, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, D. Silva, Mendy, Aguero, Jesus.

Predicted Crystal Palace XI: Hennessey, Ward, Dann, Sakho, Schlupp, Milivojevic, Townsend, Cabaye, Loftus-Cheek, Puncheon, Benteke.

Prediction

Given the form guide for this one, it is definitely difficult to look beyond a Manchester City win. Their big names are all performing and they have looked capable of running up cricket scores at times.

Crystal Palace will be desperate for at least a point to get them up and running but to do that, they're going to have to score, which has proved impossible for them so far.

Prediction: Manchester City 3-0 Crystal Palace