Crystal Palace vs Man City: Preview and Prediction

Saturday 1st May 2021

Crystal Palace vs Man City: Preview and Prediction

England Premier League
Saturday 1st May 2021
Kick off at 12:30pm BST
Venue: Selhurst Park

Match Preview:

Manchester City could be forgiven for wanting off the roller coaster for five minutes just to catch their breath but they will have no rest as 3 days after playing in Europe they face this Saturday lunch time fixture.

Perhaps the good news for City is that the game isn’t a must win, however if they do and Liverpool beat Manchester United on Sunday then City would be confirmed as champions. It’s been quite a week for the club who beat Tottenham 1-0 to win their 4th Carabao Cup in a row and they have one foot in the Champions League final after coming back to beat PSG 2-1 in Paris in the 1st leg of their semi-final with the French champions.

Pep Guardiola’s team haven’t played in the league for 10 days and their last match ended in a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa. They have won 4 of their last five games and look in brilliant form.

Crystal Palace will be safe this season and are 11 points above the relegation zone and in 13th place. The Eagles won’t go down but also won’t be able to claim a European place so effectively their season is over coming into this game. In their last game they did take the lead at 3rd placed Leicester but lost the encounter 2-1. Recent home form from the Eagles has been good with one defeat in their last four, though that came in their last home game and ended in a 4-1 loss to Chelsea. A surprise victory would not move Palace up the league table but they would join Wolves on 41 points.

 

Team News: 

Crystal Palace: Gary Cahill has a knock and will be assessed. Nathan Ferguson looks set to miss out again through a lack of match fitness. James MacArthur is out with a calf injury. Connor Wickham looks set to miss out because of fitness issues.

Manchester City: John Stones is suspended for 3 games after his sending off v Aston Villa. For now the club have no injuries.

 

Crystal Palace vs Man City Head to Head:

Last season this fixture ended 2-0 to Crystal Palace. 

Earlier in the season in the reverse fixture Manchester City won 4-0.

In the last 11 league meetings Crystal Palace have just one win.

4 of the last 5 league meetings have seen over 2.5 goals.

 

Crystal Palace vs Man City Prediction:

Even though City have such an important fixture coming up against PSG next week we also know how Guardiola rolls and we expect him to start with a strong team.

At the same time neither side really has to win the game and one would have to question if winning the league title this weekend would make sense to City? For example forget celebrations when you have to face a 2nd leg Champions League semi-final a few days after. This is why the value bet could be in backing Palace to win on the handicap.

City of course are far the superior side but this is a match at a certain time in their season where there is no guarantees of a big score or even a win, and there doesn’t seem to be the best value coming back from the bookmakers regarding this.

 

Crystal Palace vs Man City Betting Tips:

Handicap: Crystal Palace to beat Manchester City with a +2 goal start at 1.80

Half Time Result: Draw at 2.50

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