Crystal Palace-Manchester City Preview

Crystal Palace have a strong record at Manchester City in recent seasons, so Pep Guardiola is only too aware of the visitors' "incredible amount of quality."

On Saturday, Palace travel to the Etihad Stadium, where they have won two and drawn one of their past four matches.

Wilfried Zaha and now departed loanee Conor Gallagher struck in a 2-0 Palace win last season.

Zaha is reportedly set to miss this game through injury, but Guardiola knows his side cannot be complacent as they aim to return to winning ways following a 3-3 draw at Newcastle United.

"That (win last season) shows how good they are, under Roy Hodgson and now Patrick Vieira," Guardiola said. "They have an incredible amount of quality and from nothing can create something.

"We have to be aware and not do mistakes because they defend their box really well, have good set pieces and good transitions. With Zaha, (Eberechi) Eze and (Odsonne) Edouard, they have weapons and experienced players in the middle.

"Hopefully, we can break them and win the game.

"They drew at Anfield a few weeks ago. It's a tough side. We know it. It's a good challenge. We're looking forward to it."

Palace coach Patrick Vieira - formerly a City player - was also asked about their last visit to the Etihad, but his focus is on a repeat.

"This is a positive memory, of course," he said. "But the game is gone and we need to have this kind of performance again.

"The challenge of course for us is: can we repeat the same kind of performance?

"There's no doubt about the quality individually and collectively. I believe this is one of the best teams in the world, [given] the way they play together.

"The result will be down to how well we can play together. We will have those situations where we can break out and negotiate those moments well."

Manchester City - Ilkay Gundogan

The attention Erling Haaland is unsurprisingly drawing has created space for his City team-mates, with Gundogan profiting to score against both Bournemouth and Newcastle. Although the Magpies earned a point against City, none of the champions' opponents have yet struck a balance between stifling Haaland and tracking his colleagues.

Crystal Palace - Eberechi Eze

Palace may no longer have last season's Etihad hero Gallagher, but Eze has been restored to a key role in his absence. It was his superb assist that allowed Zaha to score in a 1-1 draw at Anfield, and he will have an even more prominent part to play if the forward is out.

- Crystal Palace were one of four teams Manchester City failed to beat in the Premier League last season (D1 L1), while the Eagles were the only side the Citizens failed to score against last term.

- Crystal Palace have taken seven points from their last four Premier League away games against Man City (W2 D1 L1), as many as they had in their previous 15 league visits to the Citizens (W1 D4 L10).

- Following their 2-0 win in this exact fixture last season, Crystal Palace are looking to become just the second team to win as many as three away league games against Man City boss Pep Guardiola, after Manchester United. Man Utd are also the only side to win consecutive away league games against sides managed by the Catalan.

- Manchester City have found themselves two goals behind in three of their last five Premier League matches, as many as in their previous 72 matches combined. They have avoided defeat in all three of those games (W1 D2), having lost their 35 previous league matches when going two goals down.

- Crystal Palace drew 1-1 at Liverpool in their first away league game this season. The Eagles are the second side in Premier League history to play their first two away games of a campaign against the previous season's top two sides, after Burnley in 2017-18, who beat Chelsea before drawing at Spurs.

Updated August 26, 2022