Manchester City handed title blow as Oliver Glasner hints at weakened Crystal Palace line-up against Arsenal | OneFootball

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has hinted that he may play a weakened side against Arsenal on the final day of the Premier League season.

The Eagles were handed a 3-0 defeat by Pep Guardiola‘s side at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night as a much-changed Manchester City side moved to two points adrift of Arsenal in the league table.

City need a favour from Burnley or Palace in Arsenal’s final two fixtures to stand a chance of winning an eighth Premier League title, having slipped up in a vital trip to Everton last week.

Guardiola and co have won recent games against Brentford and Crystal Palace, with an FA Cup final against Chelsea to be played on Saturday before Arsenal welcome Burnley to the Emirates Stadium on Monday night.

Man City 3-0 Crystal Palace: As it happened

Guardiola had spoken about needing to shuffle his pack in the final fortnight of the campaign as City vie for a domestic treble and retain slim hopes of usurping Arsenal to a ninth Premier League crown.

The Manchester City manager made six changes to his starting XI against Palace from last week’s 3-0 win over Brentford, with Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku starting on the bench ahead of this weekend’s trip to London.

Cherki came on and set up Savinho for a brilliant third City goal as Rodri remained absent due to injury, nursing a calf issue sustained in the closing minutes of April’s 2-1 league win over Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.

Nico O’Reilly was also a surprise absentee from the matchday squad, with Abdukodir Khusanov back in the lineup after missing the win over Brentford and Josko Gvardiol making his first start since recovering from a tibial fracture suffered in January.

Glasner: City XI justifies weakened Palace side vs Arsenal

In his post-match press conference, Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner was asked to reflect on Manchester City naming a second-string starting XI against the Eagles.

“Manchester City have a huge final in three days so maybe it is the legitimation to make huge rotation against Arsenal (on the final day of the Premier League campaign),” Glasner said.

These comments would concern bosses at the Etihad Stadium as Palace themselves navigate a busy finish to the season, with a chance of making European history ahead of a UEFA Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano on May 27.

City would be hopeful of Arsenal slipping up against Burnley or Palace in their title run-in but should Glasner name a weakened line-up against the Gunners on the final day of the Premier League campaign, it would really be out of City’s hands.