The juggernaut that is Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side hit an unexpected pot-hole in their last fixture. They lost their first Carabao Cup fixture in four years when they fell to West Ham 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out.
Luckily for them, they face one of their favorite (many) whipping boys in their next fixture as they host Crystal Palace. The Citizens have only lost one of their previous twelve fixtures against the South London club. It shapes up as perhaps the best possible opponent to face after losing to the Hammers mid-week (besides maybe Norwich).
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace FYIs:
Kick-off time: 3 PM GMT, 30 October Saturday
Premier League Preview Podcast: go here
Man City Starting XI Prediction: go here
Form Guide (All Competitions): Man City (DWWWL) Crystal Palace (LDDDD)
As far as injuries go – Manchester City has had a reasonably good run recently. There will be a few faces who are not available for selection, so let’s take a closer look at them.
The first name to mention is Ferran Torres. The Spaniard started the season like a house on fire before the returns of Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden saw him lose his place in the starting XI. Unfortunately for the midfielder/attacker, he picked up a pretty nasty injury whilst on international duty that will likely see him miss quite a bit of action.
It was later confirmed that he had done some damage to his metatarsal with Pep Guardiola confirming to media he will miss two to three months.
The other notable out continues to be embattled French midfielder, Benjamin Mendy. In one of the more horrifying stories to hit the presses this season, Mendy remains in prison awaiting trial for multiple charges of sexual assault and rape. There is no known return date for him at this point obviously.
The final definite out is youngster Liam Delap. The 18-year-old continues to recover from the ankle injury that he suffered over the summer. All reports suggest that he is progressing nicely and could be back in first-team contention as soon as next month.
This could be a cricket score as Manchester City will look to return to winning ways after their shock departure from the Carabao Cup. A big win for the home side.