Only Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker remain from the side that started at the London Stadium as Pep Guardiola names a largely fresh starting XI against Crystal Palace.
Teams
City: Ederson, Walker, Cancelo, Dias (c), Laporte, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Grealish, Jesus, Foden
Subs: Steffen, Stones, Ake, Sterling, Gundogan, Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Mahrez, Palmer
Crystal Palace: Guaita, Ward, Andersen, Guéhi, Mitchell, Gallagher, Kouyaté, McArthur, J Ayew, Édouard, Zaha
Formation: 4-3-3
Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo will flank centre-backs Aymeric Laporte and skipper Ruben Dias this afternoon, with Rodrigo anchoring a midfield that includes De Bruyne and Bernardo.
The front three of Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus is likely to be fluid and interchangeable, but expect Grealish to start on the left, Jesus on the right and Foden as the false No.9.
City look to pressure leaders
Such is the competitiveness of the Premier League this season that several teams look likely to finish with a high points total.
With the Manchester derby to come next weekend, the champions will be looking for three points against Patrick Vieira’s improving Crystal Palace.
If the title is to be decided by the results of the games between the teams at the top, Pep Guardiola will be looking for his team to win the majority of the matches against sides outside the top four.
Liverpool and Chelsea both have games they will be favourites to win, so victory against the Eagles is essential to keep the pressure on the clubs above.
The Manchester derby is unpredictable at the best of times – though it will complete a cycle of extremely tough away fixtures for the champions.
MORE COMPETITION FOR PLACES
City’s exit from the Carabao Cup means there will be less chances for players to impress the boss during matches.
The competition offered those looking to find their rhythm or get much needed minutes under their belt an opportunity to force their way into Guardiola‘s thinking.
With nine changes made for the second game in succession, City will look to seal a place in the Champions League Round of 16 as quickly as possible to once again afford game time to the players who need it.
Stats/facts
- City are unbeaten in the league since the opening weekend of the season (W6, D2).
- The Blues have conceded in just three of their nine top-flight games.
- Pep Guardiola‘s side are yet to concede a goal at home in the Premier League so far this season.
- City have gone 11 Premier League matches without conceding a first-half goal.
- City’s only defeat in their last 50 league fixtures at 3pm on a Saturday was by 3-2 at home to Crystal Palace in December 2018 (W43, D6).
- Gabriel Jesus has been involved in nine goals in his past nine Premier League starts for Manchester City, scoring three and setting up six.
- Phil Foden has eight goals and four assists in his 11 most recent league starts.
- Kevin De Bruyne has been directly involved in nine goals in 11 league appearances versus Crystal Palace, with two goals and seven assists.
- Palace can equal the club record of five consecutive league draws. They have done this on three occasions but never in the top flight.
- They have drawn six of their nine league matches this season. Ipswich and Leeds are the only teams to draw as many as seven of their opening 10 Premier League fixtures.
- Crystal Palace’s only Premier League away win in 10 attempts came at Sheffield United in May.
- The Eagles could concede two or more goals in seven consecutive Premier League away games for the first time.
- Ten of Palace’s 11 league goals this season have been scored in the second half, the highest ratio in the division. Their only first-half goal came in stoppage time.
- Wilfried Zaha needs one goal to become the first player to score 50 times for Palace in the top flight. Zaha has never scored against Manchester City in 13 competitive appearances, and neither has Christian Benteke in his 15 games versus them.
- Patrick Vieira ended his playing career at Manchester City, scoring three goals in 28 Premier League appearances in 2010-2011.
