Crystal Palace vs Manchester City
Manchester City are so close to reclaiming the Premier League title. In fact, they can clinch the league as soon as this weekend.
If City beat Crystal Palace away and rivals Manchester United lose to Liverpool the following day, City will officially be crowned champions with four games to spare.
City have bounced back after recent defeats against Leeds in the league and Chelsea in the FA Cup, and the Premier League 2021 betting odds have them as heavy favourites to beat a Palace side with nothing left to play for this season.
Talking Points
Crystal Palace look safe from the drop
Crystal Palace’s Premier League status looks safe for another season. The Eagles are 11 points clear of the relegation zone with five games left and are highly unlikely to go down. Roy Hodgson has done another wonderful job keeping the Eagles in the top flight despite their obvious limitations.
They have even survived star man Wilfried Zaha’s significant decline in production during the second half of the season. The 28-year-old has 10 goals this season but just two have come since the start of the year.
Zaha finally ended his drought by scoring their opener against Leicester, but the Eagles still ended up losing 2-1.
Palace’s recent Premier League 2021 results have not been all that impressive, in part due to Zaha’s dip in form and perhaps also because they started to let up after looking like they were going to be safe. They have won just once in their last seven matches, with three draws and three defeats.
They suffered heavy 4-1 defeats in London derbies against Tottenham away and Chelsea at home. Although, they have also held Manchester United and Everton to draws, which suggests they are still not completely in vacation mode.
Palace will likely be doing a lot of defending at home against City. It remains to be seen whether veteran centre-back Gary Cahill, who missed the Leicester match due to injury, will be fit enough to play. But veteran defenders James Tomkins and Mamadou Sakho are finally back in training after being out since January.
City could rotate heavily once again
Manchester City may have missed out on a historic quadruple, but a treble is still very much on. They have already clinched the EFL Cup after edging out Tottenham 1-0. And they are in a great position to reach the Champions League final for the first time after beating PSG 2-1 away in their semi-final first leg in midweek.
Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez scored the goals in the second half as City overturned an early deficit to get the win.
City also came from behind to win 2-1 in their most recent Premier League match against Aston Villa. John Stones was sent off in the first half of that match and will now be suspended against Palace.
Even though they are on the cusp of the Premier League title, Pep Guardiola will likely rest his first-choice side against Palace ahead of the second leg against PSG next week. That means the out-of-form Raheem Sterling, who did not feature at all against PSG, Gabriel Jesus, and Fernandinho will all likely get the start.
City also rotated heavily in the league ahead of their quarter-final second leg against Borussia Dortmund. But despite their remarkable strength in depth, the second-string City side suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at home to Leeds, who were down to 10 men for half the match.
City have been sensational away from home, though. They have won 10 away games on the trot in the league while conceding just four goals during that time.
History
Crystal Palace have given City some headaches in recent years. They famously beat City 3-2 at the Etihad back in 2018 and also got draws in 2017 and 2020.
However, history has strongly favoured City in this matchup. They have won 11 of their last 15 Premier League encounters, including a 4-0 victory in their first meeting this season. John Stones bagged a brace while Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling scored the other two.
Betting Tip
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Crystal Palace vs Manchester City | Manchester City Asian Handicap -1.50 @ 2.04 |
| May 01, 19:30 (GMT+8) |
Even though City will hardly be at full strength for this match, SBOTOP odds still have the champions-elect installed as significant 1.33 favourites to win. Palace are priced at 8.25, while a draw is 5.00.
There’s a case to be made that Crystal Palace can make things a bit more competitive against City, who have not won by more than two goals since beating Leicester 2-0 at the start of the month.
But with the title so close in their grasp, it’s hard to imagine a second-string City side stumbling like they did against Leeds. I fully expect them to take care of business and leave Selhurst Park with a comfortable win.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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