On Sky
Top Banana Skin. Manuel Pellegrini`s City travel to London to take on Tony Pulis`s resurgent Crystal Palace in their latest ‘must win` game?
Vital Quotes:
Manuel Pellegrini:
“They [Crystal Palace] are playing very well, at the Etihad it was a very difficult game and it was just 1-0, I am sure we must do a very good game in order to win. Tony Pulis has done a very good job – they are one of the best teams in the second round of fixtures, they`ve done very well. Of course we can win the league – everyone who is working in football knows that anything can happen. When the pressure is high, anything can happen.”
Pablo Zabaleta:
‘ We have belief. This is the main reason we won on Monday [against West Brom], to show again this team wants to win the league. In football you never know what can happen. We need to keep focused on what we are doing and move on to the next game. We will see, as we know how difficult it is to play Crystal Palace away. They are in a great moment and Tony Pulis is doing a great job so it will be a very tough game “
Tony Pulis:
“I think Liverpool have had an advantage. They have been able to concentrate on the one front, while the others have had other games. But Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea are all still in it and there is a lot to play for. Manchester City and Liverpool are both great clubs, they are two top teams and with Fulham as well, we have three tough games to finish the season. But we will go into the games with confidence after five wins in a row, which is a fantastic achievement for us.”
Yannick Bolasie:
” People might think we will take our foot off the gas but we haven’t. We have two big games now, playing in front of our crowd and creating a bit of an upset hopefully. Everyone is looking forward to playing Man City because they just about beat us up there, with Joe Hart making some great saves”
Crystal Palace Team News:
OUT:
LATE FITNESS TEST:
Chamakh
Crystal Palace from: Speroni; Mariappa;Ward; Ledley; Dann; Delaney; Puncheon; Jedinak; Jerome; Bolasie; Parr; McCarthy; Ince; O’Keefe; Gayle; Murray; Hennessey; Olsson; Morrison
Player to watch: Jason Puncheon
Whilst Puncheon may have only netted 7 times this season for Palace he has hit 3 goals in his last 5 games showing that he is fully part of Tony Pulis`s revitalised set up. Strong and fast he will test City`s defence.
Manchester City Team News:
OUT:
Navas ; Nastasic: Silva
LATE FITNESS TEST:
Y Toure
City from: Hart; Pantilimon; Zabaleta; Richards; Lescott; Kompany; Demichelis; Clichy; Boyata; Nasri; Fernandinho; Kolarov; Rodwell; Milner; Garcia; Dzeko; Negredo; Aguero; Jovetic
Player to watch: Pablo Zabaleta
City`s stalwart, lion-hearted defender has pretty much carried the right back berth all season given the dearth of back up in that position within the squad (despite the much vaunted ‘strongest squad in the whole history of the universe` TM the British Media). One of the longest serving players at the club he has matured into a fine defender and perhaps the best right back in the Premier League. His selfless overlapping runs offer a great deal to City going forward and his willingness to take one for the team has seen him step into harm`s way on a number of occasions this campaign.
Match Facts & Stats
THE NUMBERS GAME:
Crystal Palace sit bottom of the table when it comes to results when the opposition scores first having drawn twice but lost the remaining 16 times this has happened
Crystal Palace`s top goal scorer this season is Puncheon with 7 goals.
Palace`s Julian Speroni has kept more clean sheets than Joe Hart this season with 12 shut outs compared to Hart`s 10.
Only Liverpool (11) are on a longer current winning streak in the Premier League than Crystal Palace (5)
The Eagles have not kept a clean sheet in any of their last 11 league meetings with City but City have only won 2 of their last 11 league games against Palace at Selhurst Park
Head To Head
League: 12 Crystal Palace Wins, 12 Draws, 19 City Wins
League Cup: 1 Crystal Palace Win, 1 City Win
FA Cup: 1 Crystal Palace Win, 2 City Wins
Total: 14 Crystal Palace Wins, 12 Draws, 22 City Wins
This Won’t Be The Last Time:
Sa 28Dec 2013 Man City 1 – 0 Crystal Palace PL
Th 27Aug 2009 Crystal Palace 0 – 2 Man City CC
Sa 15 Jan 2005 Man City 3 -1 Crystal Palace Prem
Sa 18 Sep 2004 Crystal Palace 1 -2 Man City Prem
Sa 16 Mar 2002 Man City 1 – 0 Crystal Palace FL1
Sa 08 Dec 2001 Man City 2 – 1 Crystal Palace FL1
Betting: Crystal Palace 13/2 Draw 4/1 City 4/9 Racing Post Soccerbase.
TV Coverage: Sky Sports 1 & Sky Sports 1HD
LiveOnSat.com.
FORM LAST SIX FIXTURES ALL COMPETITIONS:
PALACE: LWWWWW
CITY: WDWLDW
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW THE GAME LIVE IN THE VMC FORUM
CLASSIC CITY: 24th August 1991 City 3 Crystal Palace 2
Ref Watch:
Howard Webb MBE of Sheffield – 2013-14 season G28, Y85, R2, 4.83 cards per game 4th Official: J Moss of West Riding
Match Prediction:
Skoorb On The Spot: City travel to Selhurst Park to take on Tony Pulis`s resurgent Palace in what promises to be a tough encounter. After Ian Holloway sacrificed himself and stepped away from the managerial position Pulis has engineered one of the turnarounds of the season and secured Palace`s Premier League survival. Having won their last 5 games on the bounce they are on a hot streak of form and will surely be looking to turn City over in the search for a higher league position and the extra revenue which that delivers. I cannot see Tony Pulis allowing his charges to rest on the laurels and be contemplating their summer holidays and beach attire choices even though they have secured their Premier League status so I`m expecting City to be given a thorough examination on Sunday afternoon. Having ground out a win against Chelsea and dealt a blow to Everton`s Champion`s League hopes by defeating them at Goodison recently they will be confident of taking on a City side which has seen its title challenge wilt away following a long hard season. City`s successes in securing their first League Cup win in 38 years and qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champion`s League have been tempered by a variety of Jekyll & Hyde performances as Manuel Pellegrini gets to grips with the Premier League. Hampered and disrupted by injuries throughout the campaign City`s season may feel like a disappointment despite those twin achievements and it certainly doesn`t feel like the squad is anywhere near as dominant as perhaps it ought to be. That said, this correspondent feels that the Premier League is as competitive and more open than it has been for quite some years and so to still be well placed for the Champion`s League qualification and with some of the best talent available in a City shirt than for many years I would rather be facing the current challenges than those we faced just over 15 years ago. Palace will offer a very stern test of City`s credentials indeed and City`s much vaunted ‘strength in depth` is likely to face a significant challenge from one of the form teams in the Premier League.
Crystal Palace 1 City 2
Next Fixtures:
All times East Manchester
Sa 03 May 15h00 Everton, Goodison Park PL
We 07 May 19h45 Aston Villa PL
Su 11 May 15h00 West Ham United, The Etihad, PL