Preview: Manchester City vs Crystal Palace - prediction, team news, lineups

Aware that points dropped will all but end their Premier League title hopes, Manchester City welcome Crystal Palace to the Etihad Stadium for a hugely important top-flight contest on Wednesday night.

The Citizens comfortably collected maximum points against the Eagles in the reverse fixture at Selhurst Park in December, winning 3-0 courtesy of goals from Erling Haaland (2) and Phil Foden.

Match preview

Five days after an eventful yet damaging 3-3 draw at Everton, Man City bounced back with a much-needed 3-0 home win over Brentford on Saturday, courtesy of second-half strikes from Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush.

However, Pep Guardiola’s post-match “Come on you Irons” rally cry ultimately fell on deaf ears as leaders Arsenal secured a slender 1-0 victory over West Ham United on Sunday, preserved only by a controversial VAR intervention that denied the Hammers a last-gasp equaliser.

The result leaves Man City five points adrift of Arsenal at the summit, though that gap can be cut to just two points with a win over Palace on Wednesday. The small matter of the FA Cup final follows this weekend, before City finish their campaign with league fixtures against high-flying Bournemouth and Europa League finalists Aston Villa.

Guardiola’s men are aware that failure to beat the Eagles would hand Arsenal the opportunity to wrap up the title in their final home game of the season against relegated Burnley next Monday. However, City will take comfort from their remarkable 36-game unbeaten home record on a Wednesday in the Premier League, including 30 victories since May 2010 (D6).

Not since the end of August last year have the Citizens lost a top-flight game at the Etihad (W13 D3), scoring 2+ goals in 14 of their last 16 home matches, while they have only tasted defeat in one of their last nine encounters with Crystal Palace in all competitions (W5 D3) – a 1-0 defeat in the 2025 FA Cup final at Wembley.

Just a couple of days after etching their names into the history books and securing their spot in the Conference League final, Crystal Palace came from behind twice to rescue a point in a 2-2 Premier League draw with Everton at Selhurst Park on Sunday.

Soon-to-be-departing head coach Oliver Glasner hailed the “huge performance” from his Palace side, who are now mathematically safe from relegation following West Ham’s aforementioned defeat. The Eagles sit 14th in the table and eight points clear of the bottom three, while they are also nine points adrift of the top seven with only three matches left to play.

With 44 points on the board, Palace are guaranteed to end the campaign with fewer points than last season (53), but there is still hope that they can better their previous 12th-placed finish and climb into the top half of the table, with just five points separating them from ninth spot.

Before facing Brentford away and Arsenal at home in their final two league fixtures, Palace travel to the Etihad where they have proved surprisingly resilient in recent years, scoring at least two goals in six of their last seven visits and picking up eight points in the process (W2 D2 L3).

Palace have also collected slightly more Premier League points on the road (23) than at home (21) this season, though six of their last nine top-flight away matches have ended in defeat, losing their last two to Liverpool and Bournemouth by an aggregate score of 6-1.

Manchester City Premier League form:

Manchester City form (all competitions):

Crystal Palace Premier League form:

Crystal Palace form (all competitions):

Team News

Man City defender Abdukodir Khusanov has emerged as a doubt after missing the win over Brentford with a knock. Nathan Ake will likely retain his place at centre-back alongside Marc Guehi if Khusanov is not fit to return.

A late call will also be made on the availability of both Josko Gvardiol and Rodri, the latter of whom has missed the last four games with a groin issue. Tijjani Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez are the main two candidates to start in midfield if Rodri is not ready to feature.

With four goals in his last three appearances, in-form Jeremy Doku is primed to retain his starting spot on the left flank, while the Premier League’s top scorer Erling Haaland will hope to add to his 26-goal tally when he leads the line; he already has eight goals in just five top-flight outings versus Palace.

As for the Eagles, Eddie Nketiah (hamstring), Borna Sosa (unspecified) and Cheick Doucoure (muscle) all remain in the treatment room, but Evann Guessand could be ready to return from a knee injury having taken part in training.

Ismaila Sarr scored his 20th goal of the season in all competitions last time out and could continue in attack on Wednesday. Jean Philippe-Mateta and Yeremo Pino may join him in the final third at the expense of Jorgen Strand Larsen and Brennan Johnson.

Will Hughes and Jefferson Lerma are both contenders to be recalled in midfield, but in-demand Adam Wharton and Daichi Kamada could continue in the first XI, while Daniel Munoz and Tyrick Mitchell are set to provide the width as wing-backs once again in a 3-4-2-1 formation.

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Donnarumma; Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly; Gonzalez, Bernardo; Semenyo, Cherki, Doku; Haaland

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:

Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Riad; Munoz, Hughes, Wharton, Mitchell; Pino, Sarr; Mateta

We say: Manchester City 3-2 Crystal Palace

Six of the last seven Premier League encounters between Man City and Crystal Palace have seen 3+ goals scored, while 10 of the last 11 meetings at the Etihad have also seen the net ripple at least three times, so goals can be expected on Wednesday.

With Arenal cheering them on from afar, the Eagles have the credentials the punish City’s high defensive line, but we are backing the hosts to turn up for this much-win match and outscore the visitors, keeping the title race alive for a little while longer.

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