Crystal Palace is on a nightmare run of form, and things won’t get any easier when title favourites Man City roll into town. Pep Guardiola’s men have lost ground to Liverpool and Chelsea in recent weeks and will be desperate for a win, and Palace away could be the perfect game for them to get back on track.
Guardiola’s appointment was a real coup for the Man City hierarchy in the summer. He was the most coveted manager in the world, having won the league five times in his six seasons as manager of Barcelona and Bayern Munich, along with two Champions League trophies. But the Premiership is a quirky league and success elsewhere doesn’t guarantee silverware in England. Just ask Louis van, Gaal. Guardiola has looked a little bemused in recent weeks at his team’s inability to gain three points. They drew 1-1 with Middlesbrough last time out and he said: “We did everything, just like against Everton, but at the last minute with a cross they score. It\’s part of football, and we have to learn from that. We made absolutely everything. We created six or seven clear, clear chances. In the end, we didn\’t score, and that\’s why at the end in the Premier League that can happen. Just one cross, and it can happen.”
That’s the Premiership, Pep. Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal teams have been “doing everything” but failing to win games for years and have no titles since 2004 to show for it. It’s an open league and anything can happen. After winning their first six games of the season, the wheels started to come off for City. They have won one, drawn three and lost one of their last five, and have been overhauled by Liverpool and Chelsea, to leave them third, with their impressive lead now a distant memory.
There have been false dawns too. City battered West Brom 4-0 and followed it up with a scintillating 3-1 Champions League win over the mighty Barcelona, but was then sent crashing back to Earth by that 1-1 draw with Boro. But while they have drawn a lot of games recently, that has been against some of the more defensive minded teams. Middlesbrough, Southampton and Everton are all pretty cautious and usually defensively robust (ignoring Everton’s last game!). Crystal Palace is a different animal. Sitting back and playing cautiously just isn’t in their DNA.
They must be an exciting but frustrating team to support. You are pretty much always guaranteed an interesting game when Palace play. The lives of Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend are full of pace and dynamism on the wings, while Christian Benteke is a wonderful old-fashioned centre-forward and Yohan Cabaye is a joy to watch in the centre of the park. They are just shocking defensively. They should have gained a result at home to Liverpool but they kept falling asleep at the back and ended up losing 4-2. They have beaten 3-2 away at relegation tipped Burnley last time out, falling to a late goal due to more defensive lapses. They have scored in their last three games, but conceded 11 and lost all three.
You have to think that Man City, with players like Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne on the pitch, will outscore them. A Man City win and both teams to score 3.00 at green listed bookmakers such as 3.00 with Bet365, William Hill and various others, therefore, looks a great bet. Or try Man City and over 2.5 goals at 2.20 with Bet Stars.
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