Manchester City host Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday knowing that victory would be enough to send them top of the Premier League table for a few hours at least.
The Citizens are currently three points adrift of Arsenal and Leicester City, but have a superior goal difference to the joint-leaders. Palace, meanwhile, would move level with Manchester United should they win.
Man City
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Manuel Pellegrini will most likely look back at the midweek Premier League fixtures as a missed opportunity for his side in the title race.
With Arsenal dropping points and Tottenham Hotspur losing, victory for City would have seen them move above the Gunners on goal difference and be just one point off the top of the table.
However, they could only manage a goalless draw against an Everton side by whom they were beaten just a week before in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final.
Considering the attacking form of both teams heading into the match, coupled with the questionable defensive records, a 0-0 result seemed unlikely, but Tim Howard kept the hosts at bay for Everton, who themselves came within the width of the post of scoring.
The result was City's first draw at the Etihad in any competition since February of last year and brought an end to their five-match winning streak in front of their own fans.
However, their home record is still a formidable one. They have won 15 of their last 18 league games at the Etihad and unsurprisingly have the best home record in the division this season, picking up 25 points and scoring a league-high 29 goals on home soil.
Wednesday's draw with the Toffees was the first time that City have failed to score in a home league game for just under a year, though, and should they draw another blank this weekend then it would be two in a row for the first time since November 2010.
Pellegrini cannot afford his side to drop off at home due to their questionable away form, which is the main reason behind the level of inconsistency that has seen them fail to win consecutive league games since the opening two matches of October.
They have won only five of 12 games since then which, while just about keeping them in the title race, is unlikely to be good enough for them to overtake Arsenal and Leicester anytime soon.
Perhaps even more concerning than that, though, is the fact that, since their 1-0 win in the reverse meeting with Palace in September, City have only picked up six points from the 27 available to them against teams in the top 11 of the table. With West Ham, Leicester and Tottenham to come in three of their next four games after Palace, that is a record that needs to improve.
Recent form: WLWDWD
Recent form (all competitions): WDWLWD
Crystal Palace
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Things were even more disappointing for Crystal Palace in midweek as they became the first visiting team to be beaten at Villa Park in the league this season.
All of the pre-match pointers indicated a victory for the Eagles against rock-bottom Aston Villa, who just a few days prior to that had been held by League Two side Wycombe Wanderers.
However, a mixture of an improved display from the Villans and a Palace performance that Alan Pardew ranked among their worst of the season, in addition to a horrendous error from Wayne Hennessey, saw the visitors succumb to a 1-0 defeat.
It was all the more surprising considering that Palace's away form had been the envy of most Premier League teams before the game, with only Leicester having averaged more points per game on the road and no side having conceded fewer.
The latter is still true, but their reputation as away-day specialists has taken a slight hit in recent weeks with just one point gained from trips to struggling duo Bournemouth and Villa. Even so, Pardew has still won an impressive 14 of his 22 away games as manager, and it is a record that City must respect this weekend.
It should also be noted that Pardew has been without arguably his most dangerous counter-attacking talent in Yannick Bolasie for the last few weeks, while the club's recognised strikers have not scored a single league goal between them from open play all season.
It appears as though the Eagles will turn to Emmanuel Adebayor to improve that record, and a goalscorer is what they sorely need right now. They have failed to find the back of the net in their last four league games - something that has not happened to them in the top flight since February 1998.
The ongoing four-game winless league run is already their worst spell of the season, and anything other than victory this weekend would make it five on the bounce for the first time under Pardew.
Recent form: WWDDLL
Recent form (all competitions): WDDLWL
Team News
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David Silva was only handed a 15-minute cameo at the end of the midweek match with Everton, but the Spaniard is expected to return to the starting XI for this one.
Yaya Toure, who has scored in four of his last five meetings with Palace, should also start, but there are doubts over his midfield partner Fernandinho due to a hamstring strain.
Eliaquim Mangala is also a doubt with a similar problem, while Wilfried Bony continues to struggle with a calf problem. Captain Vincent Kompany and Samir Nasri will be out for the foreseeable future.
As for Palace, they could welcome Connor Wickham back into the starting lineup as the main striker, with Bakary Sako dropping into a more familiar wide role. Wickham has scored three goals in his last three games against City.
Bolasie and Dwight Gayle remain sidelined, but Hennessey should keep his place despite his blunder at Villa Park.
Man City possible starting lineup:
Hart; Sagna, Otamendi, Demichelis, Clichy; Toure, Fernando, De Bruyne, Silva, Sterling; Aguero
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Hennessey; Ward, Dann, Delaney, Souare; McArthur, Ledley, Sako, Cabaye, Puncheon; Wickham
Head To Head
Manchester City have won nine of the last 10 meetings with Crystal Palace in all competitions, including each of their last six at home. The last time Palace beat City in Manchester was at Maine Road in December 1990.
Palace have failed to even score in four of the last five Premier League meetings between the two sides, including the corresponding fixture last season when a Silva brace and Toure strike earned City a 3-0 win.
They have met twice already this season, with Kelechi Iheanacho's last-gasp winner handing City a 1-0 victory at Selhurst Park to maintain their perfect start to the season in September and City running out 5-1 winners in a League Cup encounter at the Etihad in October.
We say: Man City 2-0 Crystal Palace
Palace have the ability to hurt teams on the break, and big clubs seem to be even more susceptible to that, but without Bolasie the Eagles do not look quite as dangerous. City have a fine home record this season and are the league's highest scorers, so we can see them getting a couple here and running out fairly comfortable winners.
No Data Analysis info
