by Ian S. Palmer
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Manchester City and fellow Premier League club Crystal Palace will battle it out at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, October 28 in a fourth-round League Cup (Capital One Cup) showdown. City enters the game sharing top spot in the Premier League with Arsenal on 22 points. They have seven wins, a draw and two defeats while scoring a league-high 24 goals and allowing a league-low eight against. Palace is in seventh place with five wins and five losses for 15 points and has scored 12 times while allowing 11 against.
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace – bet365 Soccer BETTING LINE:
- bet365 currently lists Man City as the favorites at 4/9 with Crystal Palace 7/1 and a draw at 15/4
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace – Head to Head:
- Man City beat Palace 1-0 away in league action this season with an injury-time goal. City has also won five straight matches at home against the London side. Overall, the teams have met 52 times in the past with Man City winning 25 tines, losing 15 and drawing the other dozen. Palace has beaten City just twice in their past 13 meetings with their most recent victory being 2-1 at home in last season’s Premier League play. Their previous win was way back in December of 2001.
City is coming off of a dull 0-0 draw at Old Trafford in the Manchester derby against cross-town rivals Manchester United while Palace was beaten 1-0 on the road by red-hot Leicester City on the weekend. Man City took care of Sunderland 4-1 on the road in the third round of the League Cup while Palace were 4-1 winners at home at Selhurst Park over lower-division Charlton Athletic. They also downed Shrewsbury 4-1 at home in the second round. City manager Manuel Pellegrini will go into this match without Argentine international striker Sergio Aguero, who is the team’s leading scorer, as well as Spanish international forward David Silva.
Pellegrini likes to win silverware and he typically takes the League Cup competition pretty seriously unlike some managers. City won the cup in the 2013/14 campaign and was knocked out in the fourth round last year by Newcastle United. The team made it as far as the semi finals in the 2009/10 and 2011/12 seasons. City is riding a five-match unbeaten streak in all competitions and they had four straight victories before the draw in the Manchester derby. City has three consecutive wins at home and has outscored their opponents 13-3 during that stretch.
Crystal Palace has no draws in league action this season as they either win or lose. Palace made it as far as the last four in the League Cup in 2011/12 before Cardiff City knocked them out of the competition via a penalty shootout. Palace has lost their past two league outings, but had won three straight before that. They’re a pretty strong road team with 11 victories in their past 15 away contests to go with four defeats. There’s a good chance Palace can earn a draw in this match, but there has to be a winner so if that happens the game will go to extra time and then a penalty shootout if necessary.