Fernandinho Man City news
Fernandinho Man City

Man City surprisingly were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by West Ham United, losing to penalties in midweek and this result has come as a surprise to many.

Guardiola’s side had won the competition four years in a row previously and were once again the favourites to pick up the trophy. But they will have no time to sit back and reflect on their defeat as they take on Crystal Palace in the Premier League in a Saturday afternoon kickoff.

The Cityzens are third on the table, two points behind league leaders Chelsea meaning they will have to pick up a win in order to maintain their pressure on the Blues. City are undefeated in their last 8 EPL matches and have won 13 out of their previous 14 league matches vs the Eagles so the wind is undoubtedly flowing in the direction of the Etihad outfit.

Man City obviously go into this weekend’s match as the favourites but Palace have really shown some spine and character under their new manager. They might have won only one match so far this season but they have played some really good football and there’s a big chance that they could rattle City’s cage to some extent. The Eagles have managed to draw their previous four league encounters and a similar result against Man City will be a job well done.

Man City’s team news & injuries vs Crystal Palace:

Pep Guardiola has an almost fully fit squad to choose from and forward Ferran Torres is the only absentee as he recovers from an ankle injury.

The Man City boss though shuffled his squad for the Carabao Cup game, resting a few first-team players. Some of them did come on in the second half of the match but they are still relatively fresh and will start vs Palace.

Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte were both rested in midweek and the pair will reprise their roles in central defence, replacing John Stones and Nathan Ake.

Zinchenko will also move to the bench to make way for Joao Cancelo while Kyle Walker will keep his place, despite the right-back having an average outing against the Hammers.

 

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Fernandinho got a rare start in defensive midfield but Rodri will come back into the side and Bernardo Silva is also expected to replace Gundogan. Ilkay Gundogan was the in-form midfielder before he picked up his injury and since his return, he’s sort of fallen down the pecking order.

Against Crystal Palace, he will only find a place on the bench, more so since he played the full 90 minutes in the EFL Cup clash.

Jack Grealish came off the bench against West Ham but on Saturday, the summer signing is going to get a starting role which means Raheem Sterling is expected to drop to the bench.

Phil Foden was used as a substitute in midweek and the youngster is expected to start as the false-nine on Saturday. Riyad Mahrez played 72 minutes vs the Hammers so Gabriel Jesus is likely to replace him.

Man City predicted line up vs Crystal Palace:

Predicted Starting Line up: Ederson; Laporte, Ruben Dias, Walker, Cancelo; Rodri, Silva, Kevin De Bruyne; Grealish, Foden, Mahrez/Jesus.

Man City predicted line up vs Crystal Palace

Stats via Fotmob.

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