Man City vs. Crystal Palace
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Kick off: 4PM
Manchester City found themselves four points off top spot in the Premier League as they welcome Crystal Palace to the Etihad Stadium this afternoon.
The Citizens are in action the day after current pacesetters Liverpool thrashed Wolverhampton Wanderers and cannot afford any sort of pre-Christmas slip-up if they are to keep pace.
City have five points fewer than at this same stage 12 months ago when they were already 11 points clear of closest challengers Manchester United, while the Reds – many peoples’ favourites this time around – were 18 points worse off.
The points swing has been remarkable from Liverpool’s perspective, yet the champions’ standards have not exactly slipped, with their 1-1 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers in August the only real upset they have faced.
Pep Guardiola’s men have already travelled to Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, taking seven points from those fixtures, as well as overcoming rivals Man United on home soil last month.
Liverpool still have some daunting fixtures to come, not least their trip to the Etihad Stadium in a little over two weeks’ time. Before then, City have winnable matches against Palace, Leicester City and Southampton, while Jurgen Klopp’s side still have top-four chasing Arsenal to face this year.
Finding themselves second in the table will not be too much of a worry for City, then, especially as they are still on course for an unprecedented quadruple. The midweek penalty-shootout win over Leicester set up a semi-final tie with third-tier Burton Albion in the EFL Cup, and they also have a favourable last-16 draw in the Champions League as they face Schalke 04 over two legs.
City have won all nine of their home Premier League matches in 2018-19, scoring 33 goals and conceding just six. Only on five previous occasions has a side started their Prem campaign with 10 successive home league wins, including the Citizens in 2011-12 and 2013-14.
Keeping that run going is now the task for Guardiola, who has been boosted by the return to fitness of last season’s Player of the Year Kevin De Bruyne and leading scorer Sergio Aguero. All City and their superstar players can do is keep winning matches and hope that Liverpool eventually slip-up.
Man City possible XI: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Laporte, Delph, Bernardo, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Sterling, Jesus, Sane.
Crystal Palace possible XI: Guaita, Wan-Bissaka, Tomkins, Sakho, Van Aanholt, McArthur, Kouyate, Milivojevic, Meyer, Zaha, Townsend.