Manchester City vs Crystal Palace; Premier League
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace. Premier League.
Etihad StadiumAttendance54,439.
Manchester City 2
- S Agüero (82nd minute, 87th minute)
Crystal Palace 2
- C Tosun (39th minute)
- Fernandinho (90th minute own goal)
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace preview
Watch match highlights at 5.15pm on Saturday on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app
Friday 17 January 2020 17:18, UK
Team news, key stats and prediction ahead of Man City vs Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).
Team news
Manchester City have close to a fully-fit squad for the visit of Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Defender Aymeric Laporte and winger Leroy Sane are the only major absentees but both are close to returning after long-term knee injuries. Laporte returned to full training earlier this month and Sane is also close to rejoining the squad.
Crystal Palace midfielder Max Meyer will miss the trip to the Etihad Stadium with an ankle injury sustained from the tackle that saw Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sent off in last weekend's 1-1 draw.
The German joins captain Luka Milivojevic (suspension), Mamadou Sakho, Patrick Van Aanholt (both hamstring), Jeffrey Schlupp (hip), Andros Townsend (groin) and Christian Benteke (muscle) on the sidelines.
Boss Roy Hodgson had centre back Scott Dann back on the bench on Saturday following a recent calf injury and right back Joel Ward returned to training this week after recovering from a knee injury.
How to follow
Follow the action with our dedicated live blog. Highlights of the game will be published at 5.15pm on Saturday on the Sky Sports website and app plus the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel.
Opta stats
- Manchester City have won seven of their last nine Premier League games against Crystal Palace (W7 D1 L1), winning each of their last two.
- Crystal Palace won 3-2 against Manchester City in their last away Premier League match at the Etihad - the Eagles have never won consecutive away league trips against City.
- In their last game, Man City won by a 5+ goal margin for the 15th time in 136 Premier League games under Pep Guardiola. They had won by such a margin in just 13 of their first 734 games in the competition.
- Crystal Palace have lost just one of their last nine Premier League games (W3 D5), with the Eagles coming from behind to win (1) or draw (3) four of those matches.
- Crystal Palace could become just the third team to win away against the reigning Premier League champions in consecutive seasons after Liverpool in 2000-01/2001-02 and Tottenham Hotspur in 2016-17/2017-18.
- Man City manager Pep Guardiola has never lost consecutive home league games against an opponent before - indeed, the Spaniard has lost just 13 of his 195 home top-flight games as a manager, losing more than once against only one opponent in that time (Man Utd, twice).
Charlie Nicholas' prediction
I sense something that Manchester City are ready to come alive again. I may sound daft, but it was as though they needed the first half of the season out of the way. They have their foot in the door for the Carabao Cup final, while they are in a good position for the Champions League. It was as if the injuries to Aymeric Laporte and Leroy Sane made Pep Guardiola ask if he was getting enough from Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus.
He is getting more than enough from Kevin De Bruyne. I think he does want to play Phil Foden more but until David Silva goes, he may not fit in as much. It has been a massive mess at the back for them. Sadly, John Stones has been going backwards and I do not understand why. The only asset he is missing is confidence, and that has really affected him.
Crystal Palace got a decent result against Arsenal, but I do not see them doing what they did before when Andros Townsend scored an unbelievable goal. I do not see Palace being much of a threat on the counter-attack so it will be another routine win for City.
CHARLIE PREDICTS: 4-0 (8/1 with Sky Bet)
Super 6: The ghosts of Seasons Past?
Only one per cent of Super 6 players are hoping that Crystal Palace can repeat their miracles at the Etihad last season, with Andros Townsend scoring a screamer to send his side to a 3-2 victory at the Etihad? Will you go against the grain with £250k to be won?
