PREVIOUS MEETINGS
Palace are one of only two teams to beat Manchester City in the Premier League this season, after a memorable trip to the Etihad in October.
After an early goal from Wilfried Zaha, a red card for Aymeric Laporte compounded City’s woes and set up a blockbuster second-half, where Palace held firm before scoring on the break to seal all three points and send the away fans back to south London beaming.
The Eagles’ last victory against Man City at Selhurst Park came in 2015, when Glenn Murray and Jason Puncheon were on the scoresheet to see off Yaya Touré, Sergio Agüero and co.
PREVIEW
After three wins in their last four, Palace are on a high coming into the latest clash, with victory at Molineux over Wolves one of the finest displays of the season.
“It was a really good performance,” Vieira said after the game. “I loved every single part of the game. I think we played really well, especially in the first-half.
“And in the second-half when we were a little bit tired, we showed the difference in the game – we defended well when we needed to. Overall it was a really good team performance.”
The result sees Palace sitting 10th – a top-half position ahead of Leicester City and Aston Villa – with 10 games remaining.
Manchester City’s arrival is the latest in a series of huge home fixtures for Vieira’s side, with Chelsea recently visiting Selhurst Park and Arsenal and Manchester United still to come.
After rotating key players in the Champions League last time out against Sporting Lisbon – sure of qualification after a five-goal first leg victory – City will be well-rested upon their arrival in south London.
Pep Guardiola’s side have found themselves locked in a title race after seeming to pull away earlier in the season, with Liverpool now snapping at their heels. Six points ahead but having played a game more, the visitors will know that every game counts as the title race goes down to the wire.
Like Palace, City are still competing in the FA Cup and have a quarter-final trip to Southampton to look forward to; the Eagles welcome Everton as both seek to earn a trip to Wembley for the semi-finals.
TACTICAL OVERVIEW
Vieira focused on energy in the reverse fixture, a tireless midfield trio of Cheikhou Kouyaté, Conor Gallagher and James McArthur complemented by Jordan Ayew, Wilfried Zaha and Odsonne Edouard in attack.
After frustrating City’s attempts to equalise, the manager gambled in bringing on Michael Olise for Kouyaté – the move paid off a few minutes later when Olise’s sublime dribbling ability helped to fashion the crucial second goal.
The visitors have taken to playing a strikerless system, with Phil Foden often the central attacker supported by Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez or Raheem Sterling out wide.
With Rodri in the holding midfield position, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva are given license to roam forwards, creating opportunities for their teammates or scoring themselves – they have 20 goals between them so far in the campaign.
MATCH DETAILS
- Monday, 14th March
- 20:00 GMT
- Selhurst Park
- Sky Sports
HOW TO FOLLOW
ON PALACE TV+
Live audio commentary Palace v Man City will be available on Palace TV+, a subscription service which gives subscribers live access to selected Academy match broadcasts, live audio commentary of all league and cup first-team games, and much more.
Find out more by clicking here.
SOCIAL MEDIA
You can check out our Instagram story for all of the pre-match build-up and our official Twitter page is bringing you up-to-the-minute match updates, eye-catching photos and more.
Our club website, cpfc.co.uk, is the place to go for team news on the dot, an instant report and all the post-match votes.
THE OFFICIAL APP
The official Palace app’s match centre is the place to be for everything you need during the Man City clash. With live stats and alerts, a running match commentary feed and lineups the moment they’re released as well as an instant match report and post-match reaction from Palace TV+, there’s no need to leave the app to follow the Eagles’ efforts.
