Crystal Palacevs.Man City

The Citizens arrested their recent slump and ended a seven-game winless run in all competitions by securing a morale-boosting 3-0 victory at home against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Wednesday night.

Goals from Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku helped Man City pick up maximum points and climb back into the top four, although their victory was somewhat marred by a double injury blow to Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji.

Guardiola has suggested that Ake is facing another spell on the sidelines, while Akanji and Phil Foden will be assessed in the next few days - the latter missed out against Forest due to bronchitis.

In the meantime, the rest of Man City's squad will rest and prepare for this weekend's trip to Selhurst Park, where they will face a Crystal Palace side who beat Ipswich Town by a slender 1-0 scoreline on Tuesday.

However, that victory at Portman Road represents just the second secured by the Eagles in their 14 Premier League matches this season, and Oliver Glasner's side are currently hovering just above the relegation zone in 17th place having struggled to build on their superb end to the previous campaign.

McInerney: "You can tell Palace are really missing Olise"

McInerney believes that Palace are missing the presence of Michael Olise, who was a standout performer for the Eagles before being sold to Bayern Munich last summer for around £50m, and also young midfielder Adam Wharton who has been linked with Man City and is currently recovering from a groin operation.

"Obviously you can tell they're really missing Olise," McInerney told Sports Mole. "[His absence is] a massive blow for them. [Adam] Wharton is struggling to stay fit, he's just had an operation, and it just doesn't feel quite as good for them right now.

"They've not picked up on the promise of last season yet. They've definitely dropped off a cliff a little bit under Glasner, and obviously last season looked really good towards the end of it in particular, playing really good football with some good young players, but I feel Olise's departure really hit them.

"I don't think [Jean-Philippe] Mateta has kept up quite the same goalscoring form as he did towards the end of last season either."

McInerney feels that Man City "are never good away at Selhurst Park" and has acknowledged that success for the Citizens will likely depend on how Guardiola's squad is shaping up from a fitness standpoint.

However, Saturday's clash with Crystal Palace can be considered as one of Man City's "easier games" on paper in the eyes of McInerney, who has picked out a potential weakness of the Eagles that could be exploited by the reigning Premier League champions.

Man City to capitalise on Palace's lack of "magic" out wide?

"You'd think on paper this is going to be one of the easier games that City have got right now," McInerney added. "Palace's form is so up and down. They should have beaten Newcastle (drew 1-1 last weekend), they battered them actually, Newcastle were terrible.

"...This could then be the one where City do go and get a little bit of success because, given Palace's current form, I think they will be tempted to sit back a little bit. I don't fear them the same way that weirdly I feared Bournemouth or Forest or Brighton.

"They've obviously got [Eberechi] Eze and players like that, but I don't think they quite have the magic out wide as some of the other sides do. I'm not quite as worried about Tyrick Mitchell bombing forward, but we'll see because everyone is giving City a game right now.

"If there is ever going to be a time that Palace sense blood, then it'll be right now, but I am actually reasonably confident for this one. I think City will have enough, and once again it depends who's fit and who's available, but I think this is when I expect the tide to start turning for City."

Palace's 'lack of magic' out wide is something Glasner will be keen to address considering his side have operated with wing-backs since his arrival. The Eagles have recorded the eighth-most crosses (248) in the Premier League so far this season, but they are the second-lowest scorers (12 goals) after 14 games.

Man City head into Saturday's contest having won seven and drawn three of their last 11 Premier League meetings with Crystal Palace, and they have won their last two visits to Selhurst Park, including a 4-2 success in April of last season.

Written by

Oliver Thomas