- Manchester City won in 3 of City's last 5 matches in all competitions.
- Both teams to score makes a good price, but the best play is to back City to get the better of Palace on Friday.
- The Citizens have won 3 of the last 5 meetings between these sides, including a 3-0 win in their last Premier League 2025/2026 H2H encounter.
Eagles have been ground down at home to the Citizens in their last two meetings
Manchester City currently sit 8th in the Premier League 2026/2027 table with 3 points from their 1 match, 1 ahead of 16th placed Crystal Palace on 0 points from their 1 game. However, we expect the visitors to get the most from their trip to Selhurst Park this Friday.
Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca has made some positive tweaks to the possession-first system that he employs to control the ball since he took the reins at the Etihad on 1 July 2026. The most obvious being to incorporate sharper triggers to their pressing system when they lose the ball.
They played out a thrilling 2-1 home win over Bournemouth in their opening game of the new campaign, with that result suggesting that City are still a force to be reckoned with, at least in terms of their attacking ability.
City’s quality and depth should eventually tell
Pierre Sage has been head coach at Crystal Palace since the start of July 2026 and has made a good start to shaping the Eagles into a compact, transition-based team that plays in a 3-4-2-1 or 3-4-1-2 shape, sitting in and then breaking at pace with their wing-backs.
Manchester City are a different beast altogether to the teams that Palace have been playing recently and the hosts need to snap a 2-game losing streak ahead of this one. The Eagles have lost 3 of their last 5 in all competitions, although that's a small sample to base a opinion on anyway.
City to win at 1.58 looks a value pick for this game in spite of their short odds as Palace have failed to beat the Citizens in their last 2 home games against the visitors. The best way to play this is to take City to grind out a win in a game where both teams get on the board.
Sage’s team will be given chances
Both teams to score is a live price at 1.67 and it does look a bit skinny considering Palace should be good for a goal if City do take command, which they probably will.
The over 2.5 goals line at 1.65 looks like it should come through in a lively encounter that should see City's superior quality and squad depth tell in the end. Rayan Cherki is cooking on 2 assists in 1 Premier League 2026/2027 game, Josko Gvardiol has 1 and could pinch one from his central position here, and Palace's Matheus Franca has 3 in their last 5, so he's their hottest striker.
