Manchester City will endeavour to keep the pressure on Premier League title rivals Arsenal when they travel to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace on Saturday evening.

While the Citizens have won four of their last five top-flight matches, the Eagles are still searching for their first victory in 2023.

A frustrating 1-0 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa last weekend consigned Crystal Palace to a ninth straight Premier League (PL) game without victory (D5, L4), which is damningly the longest ongoing streak in the league.

Heading into this round just five points above the drop zone, boss Patrick Vieira will be looking for a win sooner or later so his Eagles side don’t sleepwalk into the thick of a relegation battle.

Despite that poor run, the Palace boss was defiant in the build up to this clash, stating “we know we can compete against teams like Manchester City”, which is probably a fair assessment considering Palace have kept clean sheets in two of their three H2Hs in the Frenchman’s tenure (W1, D1, L1). That strong defence could again be crucial to any Palace success too, as they’ve not managed a shot on target in over three hours of league play!

Pep Guardiola’s men may have to wait to get their rewards though, with each of their last nine goals against the Eagles arriving after half-time.

Yet with a striker in their side, Erling Haaland, that has scored six more PL goals than Palace’s entire squad, such an outcome would surprise very few, especially when considering his first PL hat-trick came in the reverse when City battled back from 2-0 down to win 4-2.

Players to watch: Wilfried Zaha could be the man to end Palace’s current goal drought as four of his five scoring appearances this season saw him net the team opener.

Phil Foden netted City’s opener last time out against Newcastle, and could move on to ten league goals in a season for the first time in his career here, in what may also secure his first run of four straight competitive scoring appearances.

Hot stat: Palace have won the lion’s share of their points (14/23) after conceding the opening goal (W4, D2, L8).

Crystal Palace Premier League form:

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Manchester City Premier League form:

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Manchester City form (all competitions):

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Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:

Guaita; Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Ahamada, Lokonga, Eze; Ayew, Zaha, Olise

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Ederson; Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Ake; Bernardo, Rodri, De Bruyne; Foden, Haaland, Grealish

Crystal palace vs Manchester City – Manchester city win FT

Man City may need time to get going on Saturday as all of their previous nine Premier League goals against Crystal Palace have come in the second half, but the Citizens have already shown their prolific qualities against the Eagles by netting four in the reverse fixture seven months ago.

Vieira’s men, meanwhile, are struggling to pose a threat in the final third, and while the likes of Zaha can cause City problems on their day, we expect Guardiola and co to run out comfortable winners at Selhurst Park.