Manchester City heads to South London this weekend to take on Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace side. Revenge will be the mission here. The Eagles shocked the Sky Blues earlier this season when they ruined Pep Guardiola’s 200th Premier League game managed when they stormed the Etihad Stadium and left with a 2-0 victory.
With all the other accolades that this dominant City side has had lavished upon them, one that might have slipped under the radar is ‘away-day specialists’.
Remarkably, City has won all four of their most recent away fixtures without conceding a goal. They have only shipped 8 goals away from home the entire season. To top off that fantastic record on the road, they are 13 games undefeated in the league since the opening day weekend loss to Tottenham Hotspur.
Crystal Palace has seen a sharp dip in its home form since the start of 2022. Under Patrick Vieira, the South Londoners were averaging 1.7 points per home game.
That has fallen dramatically in 2022 to just 0.25 since the turn of the year.
Crystal Palace vs Manchester City FYIs
When is it? Monday, 14 March 2022 8 PM.
Where is it? Selhurst Park, London.
Who’s in form? Crystal Palace (LWDWW) Man City (LWWWD)
What are the odds? Crystal Palace (+800) Man City (-295) Draw (+450)
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Here’s the team news from the Etihad ahead of their trip to London.
Portuguese center-back Ruben Dias remains unavailable for selection. We expect the hamstring injury he picked up in the FA Cup clash against Peterborough to force him to the sidelines for at least a month.
Young forward Cole Palmer has returned to training following his ankle injury. The youngster has been out since mid-January. I would be surprised if he starts against Palace, but he might earn a place on the bench as he looks to gain match fitness.
Joao Cancelo missed City’s Champions League clash against Sporting Lisbon with illness.
We consider the Portuguese superstar a 50-50 chance to make the trip to London. Fellow full-back Kyle Walker missed the Champions League clash also as he served the second of a three-game ban. He will be back in the starting lineup against Crystal Palace.
Finally, we have USMNT goalkeeper Zack Steffen. He has missed so much football this season with a lower back injury for both City and his national side. We consider him an outside chance to make the bench here. A late fitness test will decide if he is part of the matchday squad.
The pressure will be on the Sky Blues after title rivals Liverpool banked three points in the opening fixture of matchday 29.
City is a winning machine, however, and you’d be a brave man to gamble against them picking up three points this weekend.
Stuart Kavanagh is an up-and-coming sports journalist from Melbourne, Australia. Along with being the owner of the sports and entertainment website thepyrrhic.com, he is also the co-host of the ‘After Extra Time’ podcast. Football mad, he is always down for debate and discussion at @stueyissickofit on Twitter.