Crystal Palace v Man City preview: Eagles braced for tough test
Heading into this round just five points above the drop zone, boss Patrick Vieira will be looking for a win sooner or later so his Eagles side don’t sleepwalk into the thick of a relegation battle.
Despite that poor run, the Palace boss was defiant in the build up to this clash, stating “we know we can compete against teams like Manchester City”, which is probably a fair assessment considering Palace have kept clean sheets in two of their three H2Hs in the Frenchman’s tenure (W1, D1, L1).
That strong defence could again be crucial to any Palace success too, as they’ve not managed a shot on target in over three hours of league play!
The Cityzens haven’t had any such scoring issues with their return of nine goals across the last three competitive games helping them remain on course for a possible treble-winning campaign.
City find themselves five points adrift of league leaders Arsenal, but with the Gunners playing on Sunday, City can really crank up the pressure by provisionally cutting the gap to two points.
Pep Guardiola’s men may have to wait to get their rewards though, with each of their last nine goals against the Eagles arriving after half-time.
Yet with a striker in their side, Erling Haaland, that has scored six more PL goals than Palace’s entire squad, such an outcome would surprise very few, especially when considering his first PL hat-trick came in the reverse when City battled back from 2-0 down to win 4-2.
Players to watch: Wilfried Zaha could be the man to end Palace’s current goal drought as four of his five scoring appearances this season saw him net the team opener. Phil Foden netted City’s opener last time out against Newcastle, and could move on to ten league goals in a season for the first time in his career here, in what may also secure his first run of four straight competitive scoring appearances.
Hot stat: Palace have won the lion’s share of their points (14/23) after conceding the opening goal (W4, D2, L8).
