Manchester City vs Crystal Palace Preview

After three consecutive away trips in all competitions, Manchester City will return to their beloved Etihad Stadium this Saturday when they face Crystal Palace in Round 17 of the 2023/24 Premier League season.

The Cityzens travelled to Serbia on Tuesday to face Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League, with a much-changed youthful starting XI winning the game 3:2. That win was their second win on the bounce following their 2-1 comeback win over Luton Town in the Premier League last weekend, helping Pep Guardiola’s men secure two successive competitive wins for the first time in over a month.

Their patchy form across their past seven outings (W3, D3, L1), combined with the fact their three wins in that period were all by a single goal, highlights how last season’s treble winners are still way short of their best.

But they are expected to be back to a full-strength XI at the Etihad, where they are looking to extend their proud record of zero defeats in 18 PL home games (W15, D3). However, their two most recent league matches against Liverpool and then Tottenham ended in draws, meaning they’re at risk of failing to win three successive league home games for the first time since 2016 here.

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace could make the trip to the Etihad and still feel bad for losing to Liverpool last time. The Eagles were on course to record a famous win over Liverpool, having taken the lead against the Reds at home last Saturday.

A red card to Jordan Ayew changed their fortunes, allowing Liverpool to win 2-1, extending their record to no PL win in five games. Therefore, as it stands, no team has picked up fewer points across the last five gameweeks (one).

However, ahead of this game, experienced manager Roy Hodgson could point to Palace’s knack of being a thorn in the side of their hosts, as only Manchester United (three) have won more PL games at the Etihad than Palace (two) since Guardiola arrived at City.

Their last success here (2-0, October 2021) saw the visitors net inside seven minutes, but with a league-low three first-half league goals, few will expect a similar start from the visitors this time.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Premier League Fixtures:

Premier League Table