Manchester City will try to tighten their grip on fourth place in the English Premier League and a spot in the 2017/18 European Champions League when they host Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium this Saturday, May 6th. City dropped two huge points last weekend with a 2-2 draw at relegation-zone Middlesbrough while Crystal Palace dropped all three points with a 2-0 home loss to Burnley FC.
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace – Pinnacle Soccer Betting Line:
- Pinnacle currently lists Manchester City as the favorites to win the game at -368 with Crystal Palace +1026 and a draw at +590
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace – Head to Head:
- These two clubs last met in the FA Cup on January 28th with Man City winning 3-0 in London. They also met in London in a Premier League encounter on November 19th with City winning 2-1. City and Palace met three times last season with City winning 1-0 away in league action and 5-1 at home in the League Cup and 4-0 at home in the Premier League. Overall, these two sides have met just 56 times in the past with Man City winning 29, losing 15 and drawing the other 12. City has won five in a row and 12 of the last 13 meetings. The clubs have gone 14 games without a draw.
Manchester City – A Closer Look:
Man City is still holding onto the all-important fourth place position in the Premier League which comes with a berth in next season’s European Champions League. City has 66 points and sits 15 points behind first-place Chelsea. The club has 19 wins with nine draws and six defeats with 65 goals scored and 37 allowed. City trails third-place Liverpool by three points and has a game in hand and they sit just a point ahead of fifth-place Manchester United. Arsenal is just six points behind Man City with a game in hand.
Man City has four wins, five draws and just one loss in their past 10 league contests with 16 goals scored and eight allowed. As far as injuries go, manager Pep Guardiola has a few problems as goaltender Claudio Bravo, midfielder David Silva, striker Sergio Aguero and defenders John Stones and Bacary Sagna are questionable. In addition, midfielder Ilkay Gundogan is expected to miss the rest of the season following knee surgery. However, striker Gabriel Jesus is back in the squad.
Crystal Palace – A Closer Look:
Palace boss Sam Allardyce is trying to continue his magic act this season as he’s never had a team relegated from the Premier League. He took over from Alan Pardew midway through the season and it looks like Palace will likely just do enough to survive for at least campaign. They enter the 36th round in 16th place in the 20-team league with just 38 points out of a possible 105 after 35 games. Palace is just six points ahead of 18th-place Swansea City and the relegation zone with each team having just three games to go.
Palace has won 11 games this season to go along with five draws and 19 losses with 46 goals for and 56 against. The club has been decent away from home with six wins, three draws and eight losses while scoring 26 goals and allowing 31 against. Palace has six wins, a draw and three losses in their past 10 league games while scoring 14 goals and conceding 10, but have lost two in a row without scoring a goal. There are some injury concerns as defenders Scott Dann and Pape Souare are sidelined along with striker Connor Wickham.
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace – Takeaway:
- Both teams need points for different reasons with Man City trying to clinch a top-four finish and Palace keeping their heads above the relegation zone.