Manchester City continued their home winning run by defeating Liverpool in Thursday’s Boxing Day match as well as leapfrogging them to take second in the table. It was an excellent, open ended game, but one that City mostly dominated. With 52% of possession they also got off 20 shots with six of those on target and seven blocked. The two goals scored was the fewest they have scored in all competitions since the 1-1 draw against Southampton almost 20 days prior.
Crystal Palace pulled off a great last minute win over Aston Villa after setting themselves up as a team that would be hard to break down. Their 4-2-3-1 lineup gave them a chance to sit back and absorb Villa’s attack and look for a counter attack goal, which eventually came. While they had only 35% of possession, they created more chances and put seven of their 12 shots on target.
What to expect
Against Manchester City, Palace will need to be able to soak up quite a bit more on defense. Manchester City average 56% possession along with 18 shots per game which has resulted in them scoring 53 goals. Palace has conceded 12.8 shots per game with 27 goals allowed. Crystal Palace has only averaged 11 shots per game for 12 goals this season.
Manuel Pellegrini is likely to rotate things after playing a strong team in the win over Liverpool last time out. Martin Demichelis may be back in action after missing that game with a knock. Illness has kept Stevan Jovetic out of late, but he could return here.
Marouane Chamakh returns from suspension, but after playing with 1 striker to such success at Aston Villa, Tony Pulis has a decision to make as to whether to bring his top scorer back in. He probably will come back in, but Pulis may play him up front on his own. His Palace side now face the league’s most potent team on home soil, and so he could set up to shut the opposition out rather than go for the win. Joel Ward should again be fielded in central midfield.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Match Prediction
Palace have won 3 of their last 5 matches to rise up out of the relegation zone, and won at Aston Villa last time out, but anything other than a resounding loss is surely beyond them here. City are on a relentless march up the table and are now within 1 point of Arsenal. They won’t let up and should get 3 more points here.
Manchester City 3-0 Crystal Palace