Crystal Palace vs Manchester City (Premier League): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How to Watch

Manchester City travel to Selhurst Park on Saturday afternoon, bidding to close the gap at the top of the table with a victory over Crystal Palace.

Pep Guardiola’s side can move level on points with league leaders Liverpool and ahead of Arsenal with a win in south London on Saturday lunch-time, with Manchester City facing Crystal Palace, the Blues’ third Premier League game in six days.

City bounced back from successive draws in midweek, as Phil Foden’s second hat-trick of the season inspired the Cityzens to an important 4-1 win over Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium, with Unai Emery’s side having beaten the Blues in the reverse fixture in December.

Manchester City remain unbeaten since December, but suffered a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace that month, as goals in the 76th and 95th minute saw Guardiola’s collapse from 2-0 down at the Etihad.

Palace are just eight points clear of the relegation zone ahead of this weekend, and with uncertainty regarding points deductions, the Eagles are keen to secure their top-flight status as quickly as possible.

Palace come into Saturday’s match off of a 0-1 loss to AFC Bournemouth in midweek, as a single scoring effort from Justin Kluivert managed to be the difference.

Match Details

The Cityzens are set to take on the Eagles at Selhurst Park on Saturday 6 April, with kick-off scheduled for 12:30 (UK).

Team News

Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake are set to remain out of Saturday’s affair in South London according to Guardiola, with the Englishman still recovering from an injury he received on international duty, while the Dutchman suffered his injury in the Blues’ draw against Arsenal.

Another recent injury that Guardiola has had to tip-toe around is that of his first-choice keeper Ederson, who suffered an injury against Liverpool last month. While the Brazilian keeper has remained sidelined since then, the Catalan isn’t opposed to the idea of including him in on the trip to Selhurst Park.

Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne could both return for Manchester City after being dropped in midweek.

Eagles’ boss Oliver Glasner has confirmed that Michael Olise will feature in Saturday’s match against the Cityzens, which is set to end a nearly two-month-long absence for the Englishman.

While Olise has been passed fit, the same can’t be said for Sam Johnston, Cheick Doucoure, Rob Holding, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, and Matheus Franca, who will all remain out of Saturday’s clash.

Head to Head

Manchester City and Crystal Palace will meet for a 71st time this weekend, with the Sky Blues having won 37, drawn 16 and lost 17 of the past meetings.

Despite not being one of the top teams throughout the league, Crystal Palace have remained a difficult opponent for the reigning Premier League champions, managing to draw two of the last four fixtures between the sides.

Statistics

• Manchester City are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League away games against Crystal Palace (W6 D2), since a 2-1 loss in April 2015.

• Crystal Palace have failed to score in any of their last four Premier League home games against Manchester City – with Luka Milivojevic in April 2019 the last Eagles player to score against them at Selhurst Park.

• City have kept just one clean sheet in their last nine Premier League away games against London sides.

How to Watch

For viewers in the United Kingdom, you can view Saturday’s match on Discovery+ or TNT Sports.

For viewers in the United States, you can view the match on USA Network with kick-off slated for 7:30 a.m. EST. Viewers elsewhere in the world can find out how to watch here!

You can also follow the match on the City Xtra Youtube Channel via our live WatchAlong show!