The hunt for the Premier League title continues this weekend and favourites Manchester City are hosting Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Although this should be a routine win for Guardiola's team, nothing is a given in this league and Manchester City won't want to give Liverpool an opportunity to increase their lead at the top of the table.

Current Form

Manchester City

Other than a small blip against Chelsea earlier in December, Manchester City's form has been staggering so far this season and they currently sit in 2nd place in the table on 44 points, 1 point behind league leaders Liverpool. In their previous 5 fixtures, Guardiola's team have won 4 and lost just 1.

Statistically, it's no wonder that Manchester City are doing so well in this campaign. They've scored 48 goals so far this season, an average of 2.82 goals per game. Defensively, they've also been impressive having conceded just 10 goals, an average of 0.59 goals per game.

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace have struggled to gain any form of momentum so far this season and now find themselves in 15th place in the league table on 15 points, just 3 points clear of the relegation zone. Over the last 5 fixtures, Crystal Palace have won 2, lost 2, and drawn 1.

The statistics tell an obvious but important story about Crystal Palace's struggles so far this season. They've scored just 14 times in 17 games, an average of 0.82 goals per game. Defensively, they've conceded 23 times, an average of 1.35 goals per game. What you're looking at here is a team that leaks goals at ease while not having the firepower at the other end of the pitch to balance it out.

Head to Head

In the previous 10 meetings between the clubs, Manchester City have won 8, Crystal Palace have won 1, and there has been 1 draw. Historically, Manchester City have been dominant in this fixture since the point of the billionaire takeover.

Analysis

Manchester City

By all accounts, this should be an easy win for Manchester City. The squad they have at their disposal is lightyears ahead of Crystal Palace's and they have the added bonus of home advantage. Guardiola's tactics here will be pretty straightforward and will consist of Manchester City controlling the possession and attacking at every opportunity. The difference in class between the players should become clear over the 90 minutes.

The only potential issue here is if Liverpool manage to beat Wolves on Friday evening. That would put Klopp's team 4 points clear at the top of the table and place some added pressure on Manchester City to get the job done. This shouldn't be much of an issue but Guardiola will know that every point is massive in this title race.

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace are expected to be hammered by Manchester City in this fixture. In some ways, that may help the team because there is no pressure to go out there and get a result. Without that kind of burden, players can sometimes relax a little more into the game and just get on with it.

The question on most peoples' minds is how many Crystal Palace are going to lose by. If they sit back and try to defend then they are likely to be smashed by Guardiola's team as they simply have far too many world-class players for Palace to deal with. In this sense, Palace's best chance to get something out of this game is to be aggressive and try to get on the front foot at every opportunity. This Manchester City side is incredible but they're not invincible. All it takes is a well placed set piece, a forced error, or some poor defending for Palace to get on the scoresheet. Still, it's not something that people will be expecting to happen, and rightly so.

Predictions

Although I feel that Crystal Palace could cause Manchester City issues if they're really up for this game, I doubt it's going to happen. Manchester City are simply too good of a football team to be losing to this kind of team at home. The question once more then is how many Manchester City are going to win by. I have a feeling that it will be quite a few.

Prediction: Manchester City win

Score Prediction: Manchester City 4 - 0 Crystal Palace

Betting Picks

Over 3.5 goals at 1.92

I have a feeling that this will be a high-scoring game. The option of over 2.5 is available at odds of 1.37 if you're a little more cautious.

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