Haaland is on the bench for a tough game in the Premier League title race
Win by all means – Manchester City will go into battle tonight at the Etihad knowing that three points below would be disastrous for their title chances.
After Arsenal’s relentless form, Pep Guardiola’s side must maintain their unbeaten home record and keep the heat on the Gunners.
Crystal Palace arrive in Manchester with a reputation for upsetting the big boys, scoring at least twice in six of their last seven visits to the Etihad. Although Erling Haaland can boast eight goals against them, Pep will be looking for a clean sheet tonight to avoid another slip-up in the hotly contested title race.
Two more wins for Arsenal, from their home game against Burnley and the final day’s trip to Crystal Palace, will be enough to end their 22-year wait for the Premier League title.
A win for City would at least increase the pressure on Mikel Arteta’s suitors. Here’s how the sides stack up.
Manchester City club news
Erling Haaland is only on the bench for City. Pep Guardiola appears to have gone with three players at the back to match Palace. Nico O’Reilly and Rayan Cherki are also missing from the impressive team.
In total there are six changes to the team that faced Brentford as Josko Gvardiol, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Abdukodir Khusanov, Omar Marmoush, Phil Foden and Savinho come in.
City XI: Donnarumma; Matheus Nunes, Khusanov, Guéhi, Guardiol, Aït-Nouri; Bernardo Silva, Semenyo, Foden, Savinho; Marmoush.
Crystal Palace team news
Jean-Philippe Mateta starts up front. Mateta has 49 goals in the Premier League, and would be only the second Crystal Palace player to reach 50 after Wilfried Zaha (68).
There are four changes to the Palace side that faced Everton. Jefferson Lerma, Will Hughes, Mateta, and Yeremy Pino join Ismaïla Sarr, Adam Wharton, Daichi Kamada, and Jørgen Strand Larsen.
Palace XI: Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Canvot; Muñoz, Hughes, Lerma, Mitchell; Jeremy Pino, Johnson; Mother-in-law
Where to watch Manchester City vs Crystal Palace: Tv channel, online streaming
The match will be shown live in the UK on Sky Sports.
The match is scheduled for 8:00pm BST on Wednesday at the Etihad Stadium.
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace statistics
- Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 16 home Premier League games
- City have scored 2+ goals in 14 of their last 16 league games at the Etihad
- Crystal Palace have scored at least two goals in six of their last seven away league games against City
- Erling Haaland has scored eight Premier League goals against Palace
- Palace have lost their last nine Premier League away games
