Premier League: Vieira’s Eagles Fly into the Etihad!

Manchester City vs Crystal Palace

Patrick Vieira will have his biggest test so far as Crystal Palace manager when he takes his team north on Saturday to take on top flight champions Manchester City.

Sitting in third place in the Premier League Manchester City have their sights set on top spot again. This weekend, leaders Chelsea are away to Newcastle United while second placed Liverpool are at home to Brighton; both are expected to win but, should there be any slip ups, the Sky Blues will be ready to pounce.

But first they must take care of their own business against an old friend, Vieira, who finished his distinguished playing career in the 2010/11 season with Manchester City. This is his first appointment since being sacked by Ligue 1 side Nice after a run of five consecutive defeats, but Vieira has started well at Selhurst Park and opposite number Pep Guardiola will be taking nothing for granted.

Talking Points

No striker, no problem for City

Ilkay Gundogan netted the opener in Man City’s 4-1 Premier League victory over Brighton — Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan celebrates scoring their first goal vs Brighton

Following the departure of club legend Sergio Aguero to Barcelona much of the summer news around the Etihad was pre-occupied with who would be the Argentine’s replacement. Spurs striker Harry Kane looked certain to join City but his club stood firm and Pep Guardiola started the campaign with the players he already had, joined by the mercurial Jack Grealish.

And so far their Premier League 2021 results have been pretty good, very good in fact after they lost their opener to Nuno’s Spurs. Since then they have won six and drawn two and, at odds of 1.90 to win the league, the Sky Blues are once again the team to beat. The way they swept Brighton away last week fully justifies that status. The Seagulls had made a strong start to the campaign but they were simply blown away in a first half blitz as Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden, with two goals, cut them open at will.

Manchester City have shared the goals around so far this season, with Foden top scoring with three while Brazil star Jesus Gabriel is the one senior front man, and he has made five assists. The Sky Blues lost in the Champions League to PSG, but even then they played attacking, attractive football but they simply failed to cope with Lionel Messi on the night.

Palace will have studied the footage of that game in detail but…they don’t have a Messi!

Palace on the attack under Vieira

The Eagles new head coach Vieira has a more risk-taking outlook than his conservative predecessor Roy Hodgson, who had kept Palace in the top flight against the odds. The early season Premier League 2021 betting odds picked out the Eagles as one of the three teams most likely to take the drop but, at SBOTOP odds of 4.50, a solid start has given them a good chance of avoiding the drop.

Since losing 3-0 to Liverpool, the Eagles have drawn four on the bounce, against Brighton, Leicester, Arsenal and Newcastle, scoring 11 goals in the campaign so far. French forward Odsonne Edouard has taken some of the weight from the shoulders of talisman Wilfried Zaha, top scoring with three goals, while Zaha, Conor Gallagher and Christian Benteke all have two.

At the back, 22 year old academy graduate Tyrick Mitchell is turning into one of the most accomplished left backs in the Premier League. He’s been an ever-present in Vieira’s team and, before the weekend, had won more tackles (28) than any other top flight player this campaign. He’s brave in the tackle, taking his chance to nick the ball rather than simply ushering the forward wide or deeper. Let’s see how he copes against Bernardo Silva…

History

The Sky Blues have won 19 of the 29 encounters in the Premier League era, drawing five and losing five. Last season this fixture ended in a 4-0 home win as centre back John Stone scored twice, but the Eagles had more luck in the two previous campaigns, drawing 2-2 in 2020 and winning 3-2 in 2018 when Andros Townsend scored a screamer for Palace.

City are unbeaten at home in ten, and have won three and drawn one at the Etihad in the league this term. The hosts are on a three match winning run, while Palace are unbeaten in four but without a victory in five.

Betting Tip

	Manchester City vs Crystal Palace	Manchester City First Half Asian Handicap -0.75 @ 1.75
	October 30, 22:00 (GMT+8)

At odds of 14.44 even the most ardent Eagles fan must fear the worst, while 1.15 on a home win doesn’t give a chunky return. Even a draw at odds of 6.76 is optimistic for the visitors.

The most likely result is 2-0 to City at odds of 5.60, with 3-0 at 6.18 not far behind. A repeat of last season’s 4-0 score-line is at 9.16.