England Premier League
Saturday 27th August 2022
Kick off at 3pm BST
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Match Preview:
It’s been a solid start from the champions but their first points of the season were dropped last weekend as they drew 3-3 with Newcastle away from home. Given how Newcastle have vastly improved over the past 8 months it didn’t feel like a surprise that the Magpies could take a point from City when at home, but still you can feel that a new chapter is beginning with Eddie Howe’s side.
As for City they didn’t play their best football against Newcastle and were getting the run around when, at one point, they were 3-1 down but the mark of a champion is engraved within City, they didn’t panic and in the end came back to get the point. They are in 2nd place coming into this weekend, two points behind Arsenal and are scoring goals with 9 so far, so all of the signs are there that Pep Guardiola’s side will again be a huge force this season.
Crystal Palace are in 9th place and after losing to Arsenal in their opening game the Eagles have done well with a 1-1 draw away to Liverpool and their first victory of the season last weekend coming against Aston Villa in a 3-1 win. Wilfried Zaha has been outstanding already this season and a lot of chances are coming through him and the team seem fearless at this present time.
Team News:
Manchester City: Jack Grealish will be assessed after missing out last weekend with a slight knock. Nathan Ake is being pencilled in to return this weekend from a groin injury but will be assessed. Luke Mbete looks set to miss out with a head injury, Kalvin Phillips will be assessed with a shoulder injury and is touch and go to make this game. Aymeric Laporte is about another week away from a return due to his knee injury.
Crystal Palace: Jack Butland is still out with a hand injury, James McArthur (groin) and James Tomkins (calf) are both out with no fixed return date. Nathan Ferguson is not due back until October with his foot injury.
Man City vs Crystal Palace Head to Head:
Last season Manchester City were unable to beat Crystal Palace either home or away with their home game finishing in a 2-0 defeat.
Manchester City have managed to win 5 of the last 10 meetings.
The last 3 meetings have all seen under 2.5 goals.
Man City vs Crystal Palace Prediction:
The gulf in quality at least on paper between the two sides is pretty significant and yet Palace have been able to cause City all sorts of problems over the past few years and that was highlighted last season under Patrick Vieira. Vieira is making Palace a hard team to play against and we shouldn’t expect Palace to roll up and lie down, they won’t make this an easy game for the home side.
However City should have too much and we don’t expect them to be dropping too many points at home this season. You do have to respect the fact that the champions will have to be 100% in this game to get something and the key will be scoring early, once that happens they can play to their strengths. Going forward Palace will get opportunities and Zaha has been on fire and is full of confidence but you wonder what type of effect the club will have in games if Zaha is marked well or has a bad game, who else can consistently remain a threat for the Eagles?
As expected City are huge odds on to win so backing the victory is not appealing but we expect City to get all three points here and move on.
Man City vs Crystal Palace Betting Tips:
Under 3.5 goals at 1.80
Anytime goalscorer: Erling Haaland at 1.57
11+ Corners at 1.91
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