Kyle Walker, Joao Cancelo, Rodrigo, Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez all return to the starting line-up from the side that played Sporting in the Champions League last Wednesday.
Walker was suspended for the Sporting clash while Cancelo has recovered from the bout of illness that ruled him out of that game.
Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Grealish and Mahrez all return having started on the bench against the Portuguese side.
Meanwhile, American goalkeeper Zack Steffen and Dutch defender Nathan Ake have both recovered from injury and are named amongst the substitutes at Selhurst Park this evening.
Teams
CRYSTAL PALACE: Guaita, Mitchell, Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Olise, Schlupp, Kouyate, Gallagher, Zaha, Mateta.
Subs: Butland, Matthews, Ward, Tomkins, Ayew, Eze, Benteke, Edouard, Riedewald.
CITY: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Laporte, Cancelo, Rodrigo, De Bruyne (c), Bernardo, Grealish, Foden, Mahrez
Subs: Steffen, Carson, Ake, Mbete, Fernandinho, Zinchenko, Gundogan, Sterling, Jesus
Formation
It looks once again as if City will deploy our tried and trusted 4-3-3 formation for the trip to Selhurst Park.
With Ederson a reassuring presence in goal, he will be shielded by a back four of Kyle Walker, John Stones, Aymeric Laporte and Joao Cancelo.
Rodrigo will be deployed in the holding midfield role with Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva also expected to be in the engine room.
Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez look set to form an exciting attacking trident.
Monday in mind
Remarkably, this will be City’s first Monday match in the Premier League since September 2020 when we launched the 2020/21 season with a fine 3-1 win at Wolves.
Under Pep Guardiola, City boast a fine record on Monday evenings, having won each of our last six Monday night assignments, conceding just one goal in the process.
It’s a formidable record, so much so only two teams have ever won more games consecutively on Mondays in the Premier League; Arsenal between April 2002 and May 2006 (9), and Manchester United between December 2007 and April 2012 (9).
Stats and facts
Head-to-head
- Crystal Palace are aiming to complete a league double over City for the first time since 1987-88 in the second tier.
- Palace’s only win in their last 11 home fixtures versus City in all competitions came in April 2015.
Crystal Palace
- Palace have won two of their past three league games, as many victories as they enjoyed in their previous 14 (D5, L7).
- Palace have lost only one of their last eight matches in all competitions, a 1-0 home league defeat against Chelsea on 19 February.
- They have taken one point from their four Premier League home fixtures in 2022.
- The Eagles are aiming to win both top-flight matches against the reigning champions in a single season for the first time.
City
- City have won all 21 league matches in which we have scored the opening goal this season.
- City are unbeaten in 13 away league games since losing on the opening weekend of the season against Tottenham (W11, D2).
- If we win all of our remaining five away league fixtures this campaign, we will equal the top-flight record for most away victories in a single season: 16, set by Spurs in 1960-61 and matched by City in 2017-18.
- Riyad Mahrez has scored 13 goals in his last 14 City appearances and is our top scorer this season with 21.
- Kevin de Bruyne has seven goals and three assists in his last 11 Premier League appearances.
