City without a recognised striker
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace
Date: 12.45pm, Saturday 20th December 2014
Venue: The Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Referee: Phil Dowd Assistants: P Kirkup, D Bryan Fourth Official: N Swarbrick
Odds: Manchester City 3/10, Draw 5/1, Crystal Palace 12/1
Tickets: On sale via tickets.mcfc.co.uk
TV: BT Sport
Manchester City
Manager: Manuel Pellegrini
Squad (from): Caballero, Hart, Wright, Boyata, Clichy, Demichelis, Kolarov, Mangala, Sagna, Zabaleta, Fernandinho, Fernando, Lampard, Milner, Nasri, Navas, Silva, Toure, Pozo
Injured: Aguero, Dzeko, Kompany, Jovetic, Nastasic
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Form guide: WWWWWD
Crystal Palace
Manager: Neil Warnock
Squad (from): Hennessey, Kettings, Speroni, Dann, Delaney, Fryers, Hangeland, Kelly, Mariappa, Ward, Bannan, Bolasie, Jedinak, Ledley, McArthur, Puncheon, Thomas, Campbell, Gayle, Johnson, Zaha.
Injured: Chamakh, Ledley
Doubtful: Mariappa
Suspended: None
Form guide: DDLDWL
City have no recognised strikers for the visit of Crystal Palace, as Stevan Jovetic and Edin Dzeko join Sergio Aguero on the sidelines. Vincent Kompany is also unavailable after tweaking his hamstring at Leicester.
Manager Manuel Pellegrini must decide whether to persevere with youngster Jose Angel Pozo up front, despite his recent struggles, or push a midfielder further forward. Samir Nasri, David Silva, Yaya Toure or even James Milner could be considered for the role.
Pellegrini said: "We are without Jovetic, Dzeko, Aguero. We must change the way we play, a different system".
City's last home game against Palace ended in a 1-0 win, with Edin Dzeko scoring the only goal in a hard fought victory. Overall City have won 23 of the 49 games played against Palace, with 12 draws and 14 defeats.
Read the views of Palace fan Daniel Cook here.
Prediction: Manchester City 2 Crystal Palace 0