PREVIEW: Manchester City travel to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace | OneFootball

Friday Night Football is heading for Selhurst Park as Crystal Palace host Manchester City in their first home game of the new Premier League season.

Both the ‘Eagles’ and the ‘Blues’ have been through a transition phase this summer, as Crystal Palace appointed their new manager, Pierre Sage, from the French side, Lens, while Manchester City saw the conclusion of the ‘Pep Era’ and have begun their new phase after appointing former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca prior to the 2026/27 season.

Under the leadership of Maresca, Man City’s squad has seen a sizeable turnover, with the outgoings featuring the likes of World Cup winner Rodri, Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Savinho, James Trafford and Nico González, just to name a few.

However, ‘City’ splashed the cash over the summer to fill the gaps left through these departures by breaking the club-record transfer fee and signing English midfielder Elliot Anderson from fellow top-flight club Nottingham Forest. Maresca also brought in 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille for a reported £95 million transfer fee, whilst establishing a youthful approach by signing future talents such as Jeremy Monga and Mathys Detourbet.

The blue side of Manchester began their competitive season off in Cardiff for the Community Shield trophy against Arsenal. However, a bitterly disappointing performance saw them thrashed 3-0 at the Principality Stadium, raising questions about whether Maresca is the ideal manager to succeed Pep Guardiola. In spite of the poor performance against Arsenal, Man City managed to begin their Premier League campaign on the front foot as they claimed all three points at The Etihad against Bournemouth in a narrow affair which saw an injury-time goal from Joško Gvardiol secure the home victory.

Unlike Man City, Crystal Palace couldn’t begin the Premier League season with victory as they were defeated away from home against Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry found the back of the net to secure a 2-0 win for the ‘Toffees’.

Before the opening game of the season, Pierre Sage began his term at his new club by recruiting heavily. Palace managed to introduce numerous players to Selhurst Park, claiming the signatures of the likes of Dwight McNeil from Everton, Anan Khalaili from Belgian first division side Union SG and Zavier Gozo from Real Salt Lake in the MLS. Sage also managed to sign free agents with Premier League experience such as Axel Disasi, whose loan move was made permanent, and Takehiro Tomiyasu, who had been applying his trade in the Eredivisie for Ajax.

Despite the arrivals at the club, Palace also lost a key figure from their line-up, as defender Maxence Lacroix made the switch to Chelsea for a reported transfer fee of £60 million. Brennan Johnson and Danny Imray were also amongst those who departed the Conference League champions ahead of the 2026/27 season.

Heading into the fixture on Friday night, Maresca will be hoping to build upon his side’s hard-fought win against Bournemouth last weekend, while Pierre Sage will want to use the home advantage to shock Man City and get his first win as Crystal Palace manager.

The match is scheduled for Friday, August 28th, 20:00 BST and will be live on Sky Sports.