Preview: Palace look to relive the highs against City
The games are starting to come thick and fast for the Premier League clubs as we enter the festive period, but the fixtures won’t be getting any easier.
By Neel Shelat
Crystal Palace’s precarious position in the top four
Crystal Palace have shot up into the top four after winning three of their last four league games, but their position was far from comfortable heading in to the weekend (written ahead of Saturday’s games).
Palace will have to do their very best just to stay in the Champions League spots for the next month, as they will face both Arsenal and Spurs around Christmas before going on to meet Newcastle and Aston Villa in the first week of the new year.
Manchester City’s decade of dominance at Selhurst Park
Palace’s daunting challenge in the last FA Cup final was made all the more difficult by the fact that they had not beaten Manchester City in any of their previous seven meetings. Better yet, that win was the first time in a decade that the Eagles defeated City in London.
Of course, that means that the 10-time English champions still have ongoing unbeaten streaks in the league. They have won seven and drawn the remaining three of their last 10 visits to Selhurst Park, last losing in 2014/15.
Depleted right wing for the Eagles
One of the main concerns for Crystal Palace going into the season was their lack of quality squad depth, especially since they were to navigate a European campaign alongside their domestic commitments. They certainly are starting to feel the effects of that as we enter the festive period.
Ismaïla Sarr picked up an ankle injury against Manchester United and has been out for the last two weeks. He might return to fitness soon, but will likely remain unavailable as Senegal are expected to call him up for the Africa Cup of Nations. Oliver Glasner recently confirmed that Daniel Muñoz is set to undergo knee surgery, forcing him to field a second-choice right wing pairing of Nathaniel Clyne and Eddie Nketiah. Striker Jean-Philippe Mateta was also absent for the midweek UEFA Conference League match against Shelbourne, but that was said to be more of a precautionary measure.
City’s supporting cast finally starting to fire
Maxime Estève had been Manchester City’s second top-scorer behind Erling Haaland for a large chunk of the season so far due to his two own goals for Burnley. That finally changed at the end of November with Phil Foden’s brace against Leeds United.
Since then, Haaland has only scored a couple of goals while the rest of his teammates have netted nine times. Foden has been the most prolific with five goals in the last three league games, while Rayan Cherki is starting to show the best of his creative talents with three assists in those matches.
Prediction
Although Manchester City’s defensive solidity has been inconsistent, their attack can easily become too hot to handle for most sides. So, they could well come away with something like a 2-1 win in London.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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