MANCHESTER CITY will endeavour to stay on the coat-tails of Premier League leaders Arsenal when they square off with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday evening.
Pep Guardiola's side kept the pressure up on the Gunners by claiming a comfortable 2-0 win over Newcastle United at the Etihad last weekend.
However, Arsenal duly responded by staging a stunning second-half comeback as they came from two goals behind to beat Bournemouth 3-2 last Saturday.
As such, the gap between the two teams remains at five points, so the Citizens know they have no room for error when they come up against Crystal Palace.
The Eagles' gradual drift into the Premier League relegation fight continued last time out as they fell to a 1-0 loss at Aston Villa.
That setback means Patrick Viera's side are without a league win since New Year's Eve and they face an almighty task this weekend if they are to snap that winless sequence.
Outright Betting
Crystal Palace have failed to win a Premier League home game since October and the bookmakers' unsurprisingly expect that run to continue here, with the Eagles 9/1 (Bet 365) outsiders while the draw is unfancied 4/1 (Bet 365) with the same firm.
Despite failing to win six of their 13 Premier League away games this season so far, Manchester City make the trip south as lowly 1/3 (Bet 365) favourites.
Betting Angles
At the risk of stating the obvious, Manchester City are deserving and fair favourites here, however it may pay to go against the grain this time around and take a value price by backing Crystal Palace to score at 49/50 (UniBet).
Pep Guardiola's star-studded side are not quite as watertight as they used to be and that is evidenced by the fact that they have failed to keep a clean sheet in 17 of their 26 Premier League matches this season.
It's also worth pointing out that the Sky Blues' backline has been breached in nine of their 13 top-flight trips this term, including their last two away days at relegation battlers Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth respectively.
Admittedly, you wouldn't necessarily associate Crystal Palace with scoring goals, but they have notched in eight of their 13 league outings at Selhurst Park this season and they are a side who have occasionally been a thorn in Man City's side.
Both Roy Hodgson previously and now Patrick Vieira have taken points off Pep Guardiola's team in recent years, not to mention the Eagles struck twice at the Etihad in August's reverse fixture,
With all that in mind, coupled with the fact that City have conceded a goal in 10 of their last 13 Premier League matches, siding with a solitary Crystal Palace strike on Saturday evening at a shade under evens is a price that definitely represents value.
Switching gears, I'll also head to the player card market where the 8/1 (Bet 365) about Kyle Walker to go into the book here just looks a little too big to ignore.
While the Manchester City right back is not exactly renowned for tackling his way into trouble, he should have his hands full here given that he is likely to be operating in the same vicinity as lively duo Eberechi Eze and Wilfried Zaha.
This English Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City will be played on Mar 11, 2023 and kick off at 17:30. Check below for our tipsters best Crystal Palace vs Manchester City prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
