- Palace win could lead to Arsenal title
- City must win to keep title hopes alive
- Palace safe after West Ham loss
Crystal Palace travel to Manchester to face a City side who were dealt a huge blow in their title hopes when West Ham’s late equaliser against Arsenal was disallowed. That result ensured Palace’s safety and a fourteenth consecutive Premier League season.
For Palace, with safety confirmed, the focus now is undoubtedly on the Europa Conference League, with three Premier League games to go before the final in Leipzig.
Manchester City need Arsenal to drop points in one of their last two league fixtures if the Citizens are to have a chance of winning the title.
For now though, they can only focus on themselves, and tonight’s game against Palace is the next hurdle facing Pep Guardiola’s side.
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History of the fixture
In relative terms, Palace have a pretty sound record against City. Two wins and three draws in the last ten meetings is a solid return considering City’s dominance over English football across the last decade.
Of course, the most memorable of those recent matchups came just under a year ago when Palace fought to a 1-0 FA Cup Final win, lifting silverware for the first time in the club’s history.
This is a fixture that has conjured up goals galore in recent times, 32 goals being scored in the last eight meetings across all competitions.
The majority of Palace’s success against City has come in games at Selhurst Park, and at the Etihad, there have been games where Palace simply haven’t shown up, or have performed but been outdone by City’s quality.
The last meeting between the two in Manchester saw Palace take a two goal lead through Chris Richards and Eberechi Eze. However, City’s quality leaked through and Guardiola’s side won the game 5-2.
If City win, they will be just two points behind Arsenal having finally played their game in hand. The title is no longer in their hands, but a win is the only acceptable outcome for Guardiola and his players.
A Palace win would see Glasner’s side leapfrog Newcastle into thirteenth place. It would also mean that an Arsenal win against Burnley on Saturday would confirm the Gunners’ Premier League title win, meaning Palace would not have to watch Arteta’s side lift the trophy at Selhurst on the final day of the season.
Last time out
The sides last met in December, City winning 3-0 at Selhurst Park. Palace outshot City in that game but were unable to find the net, and City’s class saw them ease to a win with goals from Phil Foden and an Erling Haaland brace.
Palace have been used to saving the quality for midweek games this season, and that may provide some reassurance, however they will meet a City team who haven’t lost since their Champions League round of sixteen defeat to Real Madrid at the Etihad.
Palace’s form reflects a side whose focus clearly lies away from domestic football, winless in the Premier League since the 2-1 win against Newcastle four Premier League games back.
Glasner’s side haven’t won a Premier League away game since the 3-1 win at Spurs at the start of March.
