- City 2W-2L in last 2 PL overall
- Palace last beat City in 2001
- City leads all-time 21W-12D-12L
Manchester City is in London with the knowledge that its neighbors are ahead of them on the table, and anything less than a win means Manuel Pellegrini’s side will enter next weekend’s Manchester Derby as the lower side in the table (Watch live on NBCSN at 3 p.m. ET and online via Live Extra).
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City’s opponents are Alan Pardew’s resurgent Crystal Palace, now comfortably 10 points ahead of the drop zone.
A loss on Monday would end City’s long shot dreams of repeating as Premier League champions. City enters the day 9 points back of Chelsea.
As for Palace, the Eagles are winners of three of four, though their home form has been inconsistent. Palace has just seven points from its last six home matches, yet has pulled 13 from its last six away from Selhurst Park.
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What they’re saying
Palace captain Mile Jedinak on dealing with City -- “Here last year they got two early goals and pretty much saw the game off, so hopefully we will try and learn from that and stay in the game as long as possible. On the flip side we need to exploit some of their frailties, if there are any, but being at home we have every opportunity with the support we’ve been getting.”
City’s Jesus Navas on chasing down Chelsea -- “The key is to win all the remaining games. I am sure Chelsea will drop points so it’s down to us to win all the remaining fixtures. We have to think about ourselves, and the objective remains to win the title. We need to focus on each game and trying to get the three points in each game.”
Prediction
Selhurst Park is a tough venue for most teams, and we doubt this will be any exception. That said, City has the fire power to cook up a win, and should break down Palace over time. Look for a goal on either side of halftime, as the Citizens close the title gap to six points with a 2-0 win.