Crystal Palace vs Manchester City 14/04/19

14 April 2019

An unpredictable Crystal Palace team welcomes Manchester City to Selhurst Park in what is a must-win game for the visitors should they want to defend the Premier League title.

The partial success of three wins and three defeats in their last six Premier League fixtures sums up the hosts’ fractured campaign, highlighted by a lot of ups and downs. Selhurst Park hasn’t been the fortress Crystal Palace would have hoped for this season, with their side collecting 16 points in as many PL outings (W4, D4, L8). Unsurprisingly, all four of the Glaziers’ home wins have arrived against teams outside top-six places, with Roy Hodgson’s players outscoring their rivals to nil in each. Poor home results are the consequence of the Eagles’ miserable attacking output, as their tally of 13 goals scored at home remains league second-lowest. Furthermore, Hodgson’s men have failed to impress local supporters so far, as only four of Crystal Palace’s 16 PL home games have featured over 2.5 goals (25%).

Meanwhile, the visitors’ pursuit of the PL title continues as they currently sit two points adrift of league toppers Liverpool although the Citizens still have one game in hand. The reigning holders come into this meeting looking to stretch their PL winning streak to nine games. Interestingly, six of Man City’s last seven PL victories have seen them beating their opponents to nil, with three of those games ending with the identical 2-0 scoreline in City’s favor. Pep Guardiola and his men are eager to settle the score with Palace following a shock 3-2 defeat in the reversed fixture, and their record of five wins in their last six PL road clashes (W5, L1) gives them a legitimate right to go for all three points here. Although the Citizens have shipped fewer goals away from home than any other English team (9), Guardiola’s players have conceded precisely two goals in all three of their PL road failures thus far.