Manchester City face bottom-of-the-table Crystal Palace on Saturday as Pep Guardiola’s side look to extend their unbeaten run at the top of the table.
The Eagles are a side in a dire situation; five games played, five losses and zero goals scored and after sacking their manager after only ten weeks in charge, do the South London club really have any realistic chance of walking away from the Etihad with any points?
The most probable answer would be no.
The Eagles picked up a much needed win midweek in the Carabao Cup, but form would suggest that there couldn’t be a bigger gap between Pep Guardiola and Roy Hodgson’s sides at the moment.
The Blues have reigned supreme over Palace in their last six meetings, winning on all occasions, scoring twenty goals in the process. Plus, City have been in scintillating form so far this season, easily beating title rivals Liverpool 5-0 and Watford 0-6 in their last two Premier League outings.
After making eight changes for the midweek 1-2 victory over West Brom, Pep Guardiola will be expected to bring his main fire power back out on display for the game against Palace with Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva expected to start.
With seven goals in five starts this season, Sergio Aguero could once again prove to be the main man in this fixture as the Argentine edges closer to City’s Eric Brook’s all-time leading goal scoring record which has lasted since 1940.
City only have a couple of injury issues with Vincent Kompany unlikely to play despite being back in training for over a week. Also whilst Ilkay Gundogan’s midweek injury isn’t as bad as first feared, the German international will miss out on Saturday as a precautionary measure.
However, City boss Guardiola does have some serious selection dilemmas after a string of fine performances from Leroy Sane in recent games could see him pick up his first start in the Premier League since the 21st August.
Opposition manager Roy Hodgson will be expected to name a defensive side this weekend, with new £26 million pound centre back Mamadou Sakho expected to get his first start of the season.
Despite the David vs Goliath task at hand, Palace winger Bakary Sako has said that the Eagles won’t go down without a fight.
“It will always be a tough test going to play against City away, they are one of the best teams in the league, but we will go there and try our best.
“We beat some of the big teams last season, so why not start this season against City?”
With Palace’s poor start to the season and the Citizens stunning form, a Manchester City routine victory is probably to be expected, but with the unpredictability of the Premier League, anything can happen…
