Predicted Starting XI: Manchester City vs Crystal Palace (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City look to continue their quest for the top four in the Premier League as they welcome Crystal Palace to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday lunchtime.

Following on from last weekend’s eye-sore draw at Old Trafford against rivals Manchester United, the Premier League champions return to action this weekend as they face Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace at home.

After the less than inspiring performance last weekend, the Etihad Stadium faithful will be demanding a much higher effort from the players with plenty still to play for this season, including a UEFA Champions League place up for grabs.

Phil Foden was the at the forefront of the criticism last weekend as the Englishman seemingly played through pain before being replaced on the hour mark, while receiving verbal abuse by the home crowd upon his departure.

With Erling Haaland out of action for several weeks, the onus will be on the rest of Manchester City’s attacking players to deliver – which we haven’t seen so far this season – with a real lack of goals in the side in the absence of the Norwegian.

While one Norway international is out of action, the other in the City ranks made his return to a bellowing cheer from the home crowd the last time the side were at home, with Oscar Bobb making his long-awaited competitive comeback against Leicester.

Bobb did not feature against Manchester United last time out however, with his minutes being carefully managed after the nasty leg break he sustained in training at the beginning of the season. The young forward will be fit and in contention to start this one.

With that being said, here is how we expect the reigning champions to line-up on Saturday afternoon, as they continue their hunt to remain in next season’s UEFA Champions League competition!

Predicted XI

A clean sheet and a clean pair of boots after last weekend’s dead rubber against Manchester United at Old Trafford, and as such we believe that Ederson should remain in goal as per standard procedure in the Premier League for this one.

Rico Lewis was a substitute last time around, but we suspect the full-back will return in defence while replacing Matheus Nunes in the side having scored in all of his outings against Crystal Palace, too.

Abdukodir Khusanov has not featured since the first-half against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium a fortnight ago, but we think he will make his return to the side partnering Ruben Dias in the centre of defence.

Josko Gvardiol operated centrally last time around, but we think he will return back to the left of defence against Palace, handing Nico O’Reilly opportunity to rest and reflect on a dramatic few days rising to the very top of City’s first-team ranks.

It was a mystery how Nico Gonzalez did not see a single minute of action at Old Trafford last weekend, but with changes expected following such a lacklustre performance, we think he will be one of them at the base of midfield.

Kevin De Bruyne has sadly played his last Manchester derby for Manchester City, but the Belgian will still have a key part to play this season. We think the 33-year-old will partner Jack Grealish in the centre of the park.

Bernardo Silva is likely to keep his place in the Manchester City side as he maintains his position as a firm favourite of manager Pep Guardiola, with Savinho retaining a place on the bench.

Omar Marmoush will keep his place in the central striker role while Erling Haaland has a seat on the sidelines for the foreseeable future as the Norwegian continues recovery from an ankle injury.

Completing the Manchester City side on Saturday lunchtime, in our opinion, will be Jeremy Doku – who looked the most threatening for the side following his introduction into Pep Guardiola’s game plan last Sunday.

Predicted XI: Ederson; Lewis, Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol; Nico, De Bruyne, Grealish; Bernardo, Marmoush, Doku.

Substitutes: Ortega Moreno, Nunes, Reis, O’Reilly, Kovacic, Gundogan, McAtee, Bobb, Savinho.