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Manchester City travel to Crystal Palace knowing that victory coupled with a Manchester United defeat will deliver a third Premier League title in four years for Pep Guardiola.
The blues go into the match on the back of an incredible unbeaten away run that hasn’t seen them lose on their travels since a 2-0 defeat at Spurs in November. The latest away victory was their outstanding 2-1 Champions League victory at PSG that has put them on the brink of reaching the final for the first time.
Palace meanwhile sit 13th in the Premier League, and their 11 point advantage over Fulham, who occupy the final relegation slot, should be enough to see them secure their Premier League place for next season, although they need five points from their last five games to be mathematically sure.
Form
Palace have won just three of their last eight matches, and their last home match ended in a 4-1 defeat to Chelsea. Palace were 3-0 down at half time in that match and City will be hoping to emulate Chelsea’s performance, if not better it.
Palace’s last outing ended in a 2-1 defeat at Leicester, as the Foxes came back from a goal down to inflict a 14th Premier League defeat of the season on the South London club.
Palace have the seventh worst home record of Premier League clubs, winning 5 and losing 6 of their 16 games so far. They have scored 16 goals at home, an average of 1 goal a game, and conceded 25. City have won 12 of their 16 on the road, losing 1 and scoring 32 goals, while conceding just 9.
Danger Men
Wilfried Zaha is Palace’s top scorer with 10 goals, from 25 matches. He has attempted 34 shots on goal and has a shot accuracy of 50%, and a goal conversion rate of 29%. That puts him ahead of Christian Benteke, who has 6 goals. The Belgian has attempted more shots than Zaha, 42 from matches, which gives him a goal conversion rate of just 14%.
Eberechi Eze and Andros Townsend lead the assist chart with 4 apiece, with the former also weighing in with 3 goals. Eze has also created the most chances (30) and has attempted 995 passes, successfully completing 837, a pass accuracy of 84%, the highest in the Palace team. Luka Milivojevic has the highest attempted passes with 1,233, completing 1,017 which gives him a pass accuracy rating of 82%.
Who’s The Boss?
Former England manager Roy Hodgson has been in the Palace hot seat since September 2017, achieving every football fans dream of managing their boyhood club. From 156 games, Palace have won 52 and lost 66, a win ratio of just 33%, his lowest since a 21 match spell at Bristol City in 1982.
Last Time Out
City put 4 past Palace at the Etihad Stadium in January when John Stones scored a brace. Last season’s fixture at Selhurst Park ended in a 2-0 victory for the blues.