Manchester City vs Crystal Palace. Premier League.
Etihad StadiumAttendance54,119.
Saturday 6 May 2017 11:31, UK
Sergio Aguero and David Silva will not be available for Manchester City as they host Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday, live on Sky Sports.
The Argentina international is still struggling with a groin injury and while he won't be fit for the visit of the Eagles, he could return next week with Silva back in training but not yet fit to play in a match.
Man City will be looking to increase the gap between themselves and Manchester United in the race for the top four, with Pep Guardiola's side currently one point ahead of their local rivals in fifth.
At the other end of the table, Crystal Palace will also be wanting to further pull away from the relegation zone - currently ahead by six points - with victory edging them closer to Premier League survival.
The Eagles have also earned some fine results against sides at the top of the table in recent weeks, and over the last 10 Premier League games, have won more points (19) than Guardiola's side (17).
Along with Aguero and Silva, Claudio Bravo will not play for Man City again this season after injuring his calf, but John Stones could return for the final game of the season against Watford.
Andros Townsend is an injury doubt for Crystal Palace after suffering what manager Sam Allardyce described as a "twinge" in his Achilles during training on Friday, and will be assessed again on Saturday before the early kick-off.
Should Townsend miss out, he will join Yohan Cabaye (knock), Mamadou Sakho, (knee), James Tomkins (leg) and Scott Dann (knee) as high-profile absentees.
Manchester City have won eight of their last nine Premier League games against Crystal Palace (L1), with their only defeat in this run coming in April 2015 (1-2 at Selhurst Park).
Crystal Palace haven't kept a clean sheet against Manchester City in the Premier League since May 1993 under Steve Coppell, conceding in all 11 meetings since.
City are unbeaten in six home games against Palace in the Premier League (W4 D2), winning all four games at the Etihad; while they are unbeaten at home in 11 in all competitions, dating back to 1991.
The Eagles have not scored on any of their previous three trips to the Etihad in the Premier League - the last player to score for Palace there in the competition was Darren Powell in January 2005 (1-3 defeat).
Crystal Palace could become only the fourth team to win away at each of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City in a Premier League season, and the first of those not to finish in the top two places (Blackburn 1993-94, Arsenal 2003-04 and Manchester United 2012-13).
Christian Benteke has scored against 22 different clubs in the Premier League, but Manchester City are one of the six teams he has faced which he is yet to score (from 7 appearances).
Sergio Aguero has scored in seven of his last eight appearances in all competitions for Manchester City.
City have stumbled a bit of late but so have Palace. Sam Allardyce's side have hit a bit of a brick wall after some excellent results. If you look at the table Palace have now done their job which is a positive for City. If Palace were at it would be a different story, but they're not and that points to a City victory.
Pep Guardiola's side need all three points from this game and I see them beating a Palace side that has slightly gone off the boil.
PAUL PREDICTS: 3-1 (9/1 with Sky Bet)
Manchester City are Sky Bet's 2/7 favourites for the victory with Crystal Palace 17/2 while the draw is priced at 5/1. Pep Guardiola's men are also well odds-on for a top-four finish, with odds of 13/2 for them to miss out on Champions League qualification. Aguero and Gabriel Jesus share first goalscorer favouritism at 5/2 apiece, with the latter enhanced from 5/2 to 7/2 to bag a brace in Sky Bet's Price Boosts, while Benteke is considered the visitors' main threat at 9/1 to break the deadlock.
