The Premier League is heating up and if you want to bet on some matches this weekend, here’s a Manchester City vs Crystal Palace prediction that might interest you.
Manchester City are trailing behind Liverpool by a single point. This means that if the Reds slip, Man City will have a chance to reclaim the throne of the Premier League. But, this also means that the gap between the two can get even larger if Manchester City fail to win points on weekend.
Luckily for them, they’re playing against one of the teams from the bottom half of the table. I’m talking about Crystal Palace, who are likely to come to Etihad Stadium to defend with all they got. Can such a plan prove fruitful?
Manchester City
Considered by many to be the best team in the world at the moment, Manchester City is still the number 1 favorite for winning the Premier League title. But, in order to actually do it, they will have to continue playing well.
The reason why they’re currently at the second spot on the table is that they lost to Chelsea some two weeks ago. According to some pundits, something like that was expected. The thing about this team is that they have a very long bench, made of extremely talented players. However, their first eleven are not much better than first eleven of other teams from the top 4.
This means that they might struggle when playing big matches. And their performances prove this claim. They lost to Chelsea and played draw against Liverpool this season. They did beat Tottenham at the Wembley, but the score was only 1:0.
The good news is that all this also means that they’re fantastic when playing against weaker teams. With at least two excellent players on every position, Pep Guardiola can rotate his squad so that only fresh and motivated players would feature. As a result, his team is very creative even when having a comfortable lead.
That’s why it’s not a surprise that this season they’ve scored three or more goals on 9 occasions in the Premier League. And that made them the highest-scoring team in the league, with a total of 48 goals after only 17 rounds.
Crystal Palace
The fact that Man City score 2.82 goals per game on average must make Crystal Palace defenders fearful ahead of their trip to the North-West of England. To make the things even scarier for them, Crystal Palace just need to take a look at Man City’s home form. This team has scored 33 goals in 9 matches at the Etihad.
Bad news don’t end there – Crystal Palace’s away form has been dreadful. They won only 7 pounds in 9 games on the road, allowing 15 goals in the process. Only 6 teams have allowed more goals in away matches this season.
All of this makes me think that Crystal Palace are going to defend with all 11 players on Saturday. If you still don’t share my opinion, the next fact should persuade you to trust me – Crystal Palace have lost every single match at Man City’s stadium in this century. And in the previous 5, they allowed a total of 22 goals, while scoring only once!
Team News
Manchester City absentees:
- Benjamin Mendy (injury)
- Eliaquim Mangala (injury)
- Danilo (injury)
- David Silva (injury)
Crystal Palace absentees:
- Christian Benteke (injury)
Possible Lineups
Manchester City
Ederson – Laporte, Otamendi, Walker, Delph – Fernandinho, Gundogan, De Bruyne – Sterling, Sane, Aguero
Crystal Palace
Hennessey – Sakho, Kelly, Tomkins, Wan-Bissaka, van Aanholt – Milivojevic, Kouyate, McArthur, Meyer – Ayew
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace Prediction
Manchester City will win this, obviously. And I think they’re going to win it spectacularly, with at least 3-4 goals in Crystal Palace’s net.
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace Betting Tips
- Manchester City @1.14 (bet365)
- Manchester City AH -2.5 @2.15 (Unibet)