After Arsenal earned a crucial (and controversial) win against West Ham United, all eyes are on Manchester City to respond as they face Crystal Palace in their Premier League game on Wednesday.
Manchester City, who have played a game less, are on 74 points, five behind leaders Arsenal. They cannot afford to drop more points as Pep Guardiola will be keen to maintain the pressure on Arsenal with a win.
Crystal Palace, who are 14th in the standings, will take hope from their 2-2 draw against Everton and their Europa Conference League run where they made it to the final.
Here’s everything you need to know about the game.
How to watch:
The match will be shown on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League in the UK, NBC/Peacock in the U.S., JioHotstar in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN’s live updates.
Key Details:
Kick-off time: Wednesday, May 13, at 8 p.m. BST (3 p.m. ET; 12:30 a.m. IST, and 5 a.m. AEST, Thursday).
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Referee: Stuart Atwell
VAR: John Brooks
Injury and Team News:
Manchester City
Josko Gvardiol – leg injury, OUT
Rodri – discomfort, DOUBT
Abdukodir Khusanov – knock, DOUBT
Crystal Palace
Borna Sosa – muscle injury, DOUBT
Evann Guessand – knee injury, DOUBT
Cheick Doucouré – knee injury, DOUBT
Eddie Nketiah – strain injury, OUT
Talking Points:
Can Man City recover from Arsenal’s result?
Arsenal haven’t clinched the Premier League title, but it seems they are destined for glory after their frantic win over West Ham United on Sunday. They could’ve stumbled but for Leandro Trossard‘s 83rd minute goal followed by a disallowed West Ham strike which resulted in probably the biggest VAR call since its introduction in the Premier League.
1:21
Mikel Arteta praises ‘brave’ officials after controversial VAR call
Mikel Arteta discusses the pressure faced by referees, after Arsenal’s controversial win and the overturning of Callum Wilson’s late goal.
A win like that for Arsenal can have a demoralising impact on Manchester City. They are still five points behind, and the title is not in their hands anymore. Despite beating Arsenal recently and not suffering a league loss since January, Manchester City are still second best. It might not be their season after all.
But here’s the thing. It’s not the first time that Man City have taken it so late in the title battle. They have the players and the manager who have done it before in their tussles with Liverpool. They can also make it count on the goal difference — they beat Brentford by scoring three times and conceding zero. It’s not in their hands, but Guardiola and his team have the experience to bank on and can seize the moment if a faint possibility arises in the upcoming games.
Crystal Palace can play a big role in title race
While Crystal Palace are engaged in their own title fight after entering the final of the Europa Conference League, they could also play a big role in the Premier League title race. Palace face City on Wednesday and will be up against Arsenal in the final matchday of this season. Any positive result for Palace can have big implications in the title race.
For Oliver Glasner’s team, there’s not much at stake in the Premier League. They won’t be relegated and they are most likely to finish below European places in the standings so all their focus will be on the Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano on May 27, through which they can make it to Europa League next season. The City game will be Palace’s third in six days, and the Arsenal match is just three days before the Conference final. Glasner will be keen to rotate the squad, which not only can impact his own team but also two sides in the title race.
Doku, City’s difference-maker
In a team that has more than a few big match players, Jérémy Doku is quickly rising above everyone and showing his importance at this crucial juncture. He has been in terrific form and was once again key in Man City’s 3-0 win over Brentford where he opened the scoring with a delightful curling effort. He also scored twice against Everton, including the late, late equaliser in a 3-3 draw that kept City still in the mix for the league title.
The 23-year-old has now scored four important goals in his past three games and has seven goal involvements in his past six matches. Doku’s mentality has been the key to his recent form and Guardiola was full of praise. “Yes absolutely I completely agree,” Guardiola said when asked if Doku has developed into one of the most dangerous forwards in world football. “Always he had this ability when he has the ball, to drop the team with the dribbles but we miss maybe the last pass or the goals. But this season he made an incredible step forward, which players must do. To try to get better and better. You want to become a better player; you have to win games for yourself. It’s not enough to do a good action, a cross, you have to win games,” he said.
Doku is surely winning games for his team and he needs to do it a few more times in the upcoming games.
Sarr and Mateta can hurt Man City
It bodes well for Palace that both Ismaïla Sarr and Jean-Philippe Mateta are back among the goals. Sarr and Mateta were both on the scoresheet helping Crystal Palace come back twice against Everton in a 2-2 draw. Sarr was also on the scoresheet in the second-leg Europe Conference League semifinal against Shakhtar Donetsk which they won 2-1 and 5-2 on aggregate.
Sarr has 20 goals in all competitions this season, which is a terrific return for the forward. Mateta, who wanted to leave in January and join AC Milan but failed his medical due to a knee injury, made his return to action in March and has been playing a key role in both league and Conference games.
City had defensive worries this season and they cannot afford to give chances to Sarr and Mateta who can cause plenty of damage during the match.
What do the numbers say?
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Man City are unbeaten in their last 16 league games at the Etihad.
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Man City are also unbeaten in their last eight games played across all competitions.
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Ismaïla Sarr has 20 goals across all competitions this season. In Premier League, he’s only the second Crystal Palace player to hit 20+ goals across all competitions in a single season, along with Andy Johnson in 2004-05 (21).
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Rayan Cherki has created 15 big chances in Premier League this season, only behind Bruno Fernandes (29) and equal to Declan Rice (15).
