Manchester City vs Crystal Palace preview: Silva and Kompany miss out

By Ric Turner, Fri 21 December 2018 16:08


Manchester City vs Crystal Palace preview: Silva and Kompany miss outGuardiola confirms that duo are back in training but won't be considered for tomorrow's game

Manchester City vs Crystal Palace

Competition: F.A. Premier League

Date: 3.00pm, Saturday 22nd December 2018

Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester

Referee: Andre Marriner Assistants: S Ledger, H Lennard Fourth Official: A Taylor

Odds: City 1/6, Draw 8/1, Crystal Palace 20/1

Tickets: Available via tickets.mancity.com

TV: Match of the Day (highlights)

Manchester City

Manager: Pep Guardiola

Squad (from): Ederson, Grimshaw, Muric, Danilo, Laporte, Otamendi, Stones, Walker, Zinchenko, Delph, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Foden, Gundogan, Mahrez, Sane, B Silva, D Silva, Sterling, Aguero, Jesus

Injured: Bravo, Mendy, Mangala, D Silva, Kompany

Doubtful: Danilo

Suspended: None

Form guide: WLWWD

Crystal Palace

Manager: Roy Hodgson

Squad (from): Speroni, Hennessey, Guaita, Ward, van Aanholt, Tomkins, Dann, Sakho, Schlupp, Souare, Wan-Bissaka, Kelly, Riedewald, Milivojevic, Meyer, Kouyate, Townsend, McArthur, Puncheon, Sorloth, Zaha, Ayew, Wickham

Injured: Benteke

Doubtful: Kouyate, Hennessey

Suspended: None

Form guide: DWLLW

David Silva and Vincent Kompany have both returned to training following injuries, but manager Pep Guardiola confirmed that they will not feature against Crystal Palace this weekend. Brazilian full back Danilo is back in contention, and could replace Kyle Walker with Guardiola likely to make changes ahead of a busy Christmas schedule.

Roy Hodgson's side have struggled so far this season, but Guardiola expects a stern test at The Etihad tomorrow.

“All the players have quality and (they have) an incredible experienced manager”, said Guardiola.

“They know exactly what they have to do so maybe people expect better results but they create chances. It’s complicated.”

City's last home game against Palace ended in a 5-0 victory, with Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling (2), Sergio Aguero and Fabian Delph netting for the Blues. Overall City have won 31 of the 59 games played against the Eagles, with 13 draws and 15 defeats.

Predicted line-up: Ederson, Danilo, Stones, Laporte, Delph, Fernandinho, Gundogan, B Silva, Sterling, Sane, Jesus

Score prediction: Manchester City 4 Crystal Palace 0