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

Manchester City return to action at the Etihad Stadium this weekend as Crystal Palace travel to the home of the champions in the first fixture of gameweek 32.

Pep Guardiola’s players will be desperate for victory as the race for UEFA Champions League football heats up, particularly after Newcastle’s victory over Leicester City last Monday led to the Blues dropping to sixth in the top-flight table.

Although fifth position has now been confirmed as a leading European spot for next season, Manchester City must avoid complacency and ensure a strong finish to the ongoing campaign in order to maintain their spot in a competition they won back in 2023.

In their last match, Manchester City partook in an extremely lacklustre 196th edition of the Manchester derby, with both sides playing extremely poorly in terms of performance standards, resulting in a scoreless draw between the two teams.

Chances were few and far between with the two managers’ tactical styles somewhat cancelling each other out, with Manchester City’s possession-based football struggling to break down Ruben Amorim’s somewhat surprisingly well-drilled defence structure.

Despite having the lion’s share of possession, City created next to nothing, with the best chance for the visitors falling to Phil Foden inside the 18-yard box, having made an excellent run but taking too long to get a shot away before being dispossessed.

Truthfully, Manchester United had the better of the chances, with bright openings falling to Patrick Dorgu in particular, although he and his teammates lacked a critical cutting edge and subsequently failed to break the deadlock.

Given the complexion of the game, Manchester City were perhaps flattered by a draw due to the Blues’ relatively spineless performance, but overall it was a very poor game with both sides well below par in terms of performance.

Manchester City’s opponents this Saturday lunchtime come into the contest in great form of their own, with Crystal Palace unbeaten across all competitions since February 15, with seven victories from their last eight outings.

Three points are vital for City, who sit sixth in the division as they chase a top-five finish in the hope of UEFA Champions League football next campaign; a solitary point above Aston Villa in seventh, and one behind European rivals Newcastle in fifth, and Chelsea in fourth.

For 11th-placed Crystal Palace, any aspirations of European football are unlikely but the champions often struggle against this opposition, so this will be a fiercely contested clash between two sides who have also reached the semi-final stage of the FA Cup later this month.

Here’s everything you need to know about another huge Premier League clash as Manchester City have full focus on achieving UEFA Champions League football for the forthcoming 2025/26 campaign!

Match Details

Manchester City face a visit from Crystal Palace in this Saturday’s early kick-off, with action scheduled to get underway at the Etihad Stadium from 12:30 GMT.

Match Officials

The Premier League has confirmed that the man in the middle for this clash between Manchester City and Crystal Palace will be Australian-born referee, Jarred Gillet.

Check out the full list of match officials below!

Team News

For Manchester City, there has been no relief on the injury list, with defenders Manuel Akanji, John Stones and Nathan Aké all absent, but it is understood that the Swiss international is closing in on a return after an abductor injury and surgery on the problem seven weeks ago.

Rodri remains ruled out as a result of his ACL injury against Arsenal back in September, but the Ballon d’Or winner could yet be back in time for Manchester City at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States this summer.

Erling Haaland will also be out for the foreseeable future but may be back in time to feature in the final few league fixtures of the 2024/25 campaign following his ankle injury against Bournemouth.

For this weekend’s visitors, club captain Marc Guehi and Eddie Nketiah are ruled out through suspension following their respective red cards against Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend. Midfielder Cheick Doucouré and defender Chadi Riad are ruled out through injuries.

Head To Head

In the last face-off between these two sides, honours ended even as Manchester City fought back twice from a goal down to get a point at Selhurst Park. Daniel Munoz put the visitors ahead inside four minutes, before Erling Haaland equalised on the half hour mark.

With just under an hour played, a great corner from Will Hughes somehow flew through the Manchester City defenders straight onto the head of Maxence Lacroix, who thumped a header past Stefan Ortega, giving the home side the lead once again.

Just 12 minutes later, a great ball through by Bernardo Silva put Rico Lewis in on goal, with the Englishman making no mistake and levelling the scoring for the visitors in this somewhat chaotic game.

Manchester City were unable to press on for the winner, however, as goalscorer Lewis went from hero to zero, dismissed with five minutes of the 90 to play via a second yellow card following a dubious decision by referee Rob Jones.

The Blues managed to hold out for a point for what remained of the game, with the points shared.

In the 56 previous games between these sides in all competitions, Manchester City have emerged victorious 30 times, drawing 14 and losing the other 12.

Statistics

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

Having lost each of their first six Premier League visits to the Etihad Stadium, Crystal Palace have lost just two of their last six away to Manchester City in the competition (W2 D2).

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

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.

How To Watch

For viewers in the United Kingdom, the game can be streamed live on TNT Sports/Discovery+ from 12:30 GMT.

For viewers in the United States, the fixture will be live on multiple platforms such as NBC Sports and UNIVERSO from 06:30 EST.

You can find full global TV listings for this match here!

City Xtra will have full live coverage available on our X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram channels throughout Wednesday evening, with content also provided on cityxtra.co.uk and YouTube!