Last weekend, Manchester City defeated Luton Town at Kenilworth Road in a thrilling comeback to get back to winning ways in the Premier League after a turbulent few weeks. The champions overcame a scare after falling behind their struggling hosts early on to snap a four-game losing streak in the top division. With those three points, City dropped to fourth place in the standings, four points behind leaders Liverpool.
Crystal Palace, a team that has given Pep Guardiola’s team more problems than most in recent seasons, will visit this weekend. For example, the Eagles only managed four points out of a possible six against City in the 2021–2022 season, but the champions made amends by defeating them twice the following year.
But as things stand right now, Roy Hodgson’s team is hardly a threat to anyone and has only won one of their last five games. They have dropped to 15th in the standings as a result, and they are only seven points above the relegation zone.
But this weekend in Manchester, how will the two teams lineup? Below, we’ve examined each team’s news and projected starting lineups.
Man City Team News
Although Manchester City has a small injury list, the players they are missing are crucial to their offensive strategy. Kevin de Bruyne is undoubtedly injured; however, there are concerns about both. The Belgian playmaker plans to return to action later this month. Additionally, there are questions regarding Jeremy Doku and Erling Haaland.
As usual, the former has been in outstanding goal-scoring form this season, while the latter, who joined in the summer transfer window, has revolutionized wing play in the Premier League with his direct approach. Haaland is currently recovering from a foot injury he suffered in the team’s most recent loss to Aston Villa. The injury prevented him from walking and kept him out of the team’s victory over Luton Town as well as a midweek Champions League match. Since then, City has stated that while they will handle the issue day-by-day, they are also reasonably confident that the Norwegian won’t be out for too long.
Guardiola stated earlier in the week, when discussing the injury: “I don’t know, I can’t answer [about Saturday]. I can be more specific at the upcoming press conference.”
Ederson, who missed Wednesday’s victory over FK Crvena zvezda due to illness, may make a comeback in goal.
Man City’s predicted starting lineup included Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish, Julian Alvarez, Rodri, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Dias, Kyle Walker, John Stones, and Josko Gvardiol.
News from the Crystal Palace Team
Going into the weekend, Palace is plagued by a variety of absences. After receiving a red card in his most recent game, Jordan Ayew is suspended; Rob Holding and Cheick Doucoure are also out. Dean Henderson and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi round out the list of unavoidable injury issues.
However, Palace must deal with a number of unanswered questions in other areas. Even though they are a little more upbeat, Odsonne Edouard, Jefferson Lerma, and Sam Johnstone could also be absent, as are players like Tyrick Mitchell and Eberechi Eze.
Crystal Palace XI Prediction
Sam Johnstone, Will Hughes, Chris Richards, Jefferson Lerma; Joel Ward, Joachim Andersen, Marc Guehi, Nathaniel Clyne; Michael Olise, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Jeffrey Schlupp.
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