McAtee starts as City make three changes for Palace visit | OneFootball

James McAtee is handed a first Premier League start for City as manager Pep Guardiola makes three changes for Saturday’s latest Premier League clash at home to Crystal Palace.

Academy graduate McAtee, along with Rico Lewis and Nico, all come into the starting eleven from the side that drew 0-0 at Manchester United last week.

Matheus Nunes and Bernardo both revert to the bench while Phil Foden, who also started at Old Trafford, is not fully fit and doesn’t feature in today's matchday squad.

Teams

CITY XI: Ederson, Lewis, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Nico, Kovacic, Gundogan, De Bruyne (C), McAtee, Marmoush

Subs: Ortega, Grealish, Doku, Bernardo, Reis, Savinho, Nunes, Khusanov, Bobb

CRYSTAL PALACE XI: Henderson, Munoz, Richards, Lacroix, Lerma, Mitchell, Wharton, Kamada, Sarr, Eze, Mateta

Subs: Matthews, Ward, Franca, Clyne, Hughes, Chilwell, Umeh, Devenny, Kporha

Formation and tactics

Ederson will be the familiar figure in goal with the Brazilian keeper shielded by a back four of Rico Lewis, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and Nico O’Reilly

Nico is set to be in the midfield engine room alongside Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan.

Omar Marmoush will be part of City’s forward triumvirate with skipper Kevin De Bruyne and McAtee expected to provide support up front.

However such is City’s tactical flexibility and versatility that formation and deployment of resources could be subject to change!

Eagles test

With seven games of the Premier League season remaining, every match will now carry extra significance as the battle to secure Champions League football hots up.

And there is no doubt that the visit of Palace represents a particularly challenging environment.

Under the stewardship of Oliver Glasner the Eagles have become one of the top flight’s toughest nuts to crack – and their recent record here at the Etihad makes for impressive reading.

After having lost each of their first six Premier League visits to the Etihad Stadium, Palace have been defeated in just two of their last six visits to City in the league (W2 D2).

They also make the visit North on the back of a fine run of form, having gone unbeaten in their last seven games and having lost just twice since Christmas.

Furthermore, just like City, Palace have also booked a place in the FA Cup semi-finals where they will meet Aston Villa later this month.

Proof positive – if any were needed – that Pep Guardiola’s side will need to be on their mettle today.

Final countdown

In looking ahead to the visit of Palace – and that battle to secure a place in the Champions League next term Pep Guardiola got to the heart of the matter as always.

There is extra wriggle room in the battle at the top with fifth place in the Premier League now also carrying a ticket through to Europe’s elite tournament next term.

However, looking ahead to today and the battles ahead, Pep was in no doubt as to the scale of the challenge.

“Every single game is a final,” the City boss declared at Friday’s pre-match press conference.

“It’s not complicated, we don’t have 15 or 20 games left, we have seven games left, so it’s a final every single game and we have to win a lot of games to qualify because Newcastle have just one game a week, Aston Villa’s quality.

“All the teams are involved, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Fulham is there. There are a lot of teams who’ll be there and you have to win games.

“It’s not much more complicated than that. Want to be in the Champions League next season and live the Tuesday and Wednesday with the elite you have to win almost all the games.”

WATCH: Pep: Every game from now is a ‘final’

Stats and facts

City have lost just one of our last 12 Premier League games against Crystal Palace (W7 D4), going down 2-0 at home in October 2021.

Crystal Palace have either failed to score (5) or scored exactly twice (6) in their last 11 Premier League games against City.

The team opening the scoring has won just one of the last five Premier League meetings between Crystal Palace and City (D2 L2), with the Citizens winning 1-0 at Selhurst Park in March 2023. On the three occasions the Eagles have scored first in this run, they’ve done so in the fourth minute of the match.

Only league leaders Liverpool (23) have earned more points over their last 10 Premier League games than Crystal Palace (22 – W7 D1 L2). The Eagles have won four of their last five league matches (D1), and six of their last eight away from home (D2).

Crystal Palace are unbeaten in their last 10 away games in the Premier League (W6 D4); never before in their league history have they had a longer run without defeat on the road.

City’s first six Premier League games of 2025 produced 29 goals (F20 A9), an average of 4.8 per game. Their last six games have seen just 10 goals scored (F5 A5), with the Citizens failing to score on three occasions in that run.

Only Mohamed Salah (10) has scored more Premier League goals so far in 2025 than Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta (9). With 18 goals in 2024, he could become the third Palace player to net double figures in the Premier League in consecutive years along with Andrew Johnson (2004/2005) and Eberechi Eze (2023/2024).

Kevin De Bruyne’s first ever Premier League appearance for City came against Crystal Palace, as a 25th minute substitute in September 2015. He’s since been involved in 12 goals against the Eagles (4 goals, 8 assists), only having a hand in more against Southampton in the competition (14).

Eberechi Eze has assisted eight goals in the Premier League this season, as many as his previous two campaigns combined (4 each in 2022-23 and 2023-24).

The only players to provide more assists in a Premier League season for Crystal Palace are Wayne Routledge (9 in 2004-05), Wilfried Zaha (9 in 2016-17), and Michael Olise (11 in 2022-23).