Crystal Palace vs. Manchester City – English Premier League, May 1, 2021

Manchester City’s trophy charge on three fronts continues as it travels to south London to take on Crystal Palace.

The Eagles are safe from any relegation fears and will be quite content sitting back in an attempt to strike on the counter. But Manchester City’s weary players might not be quite as incisive as usual.

Earlier in the season, Manchester City struggled with supposedly weaker opponents. But Pep Guardiola’s side has been far more convincing since the start of the year.

The odds for the home win might seem attractive but are not long enough for me – even with City preparing for next week’s Champions League semifinal second leg.

Palace did very little away at Leicester at the weekend but still managed to take the lead early on. Roy Hodgson’s team definitely had a game plan, though. It allowed its opponent to enjoy the majority of possession and take any chance when it came its way. It almost worked.

It seems likely that Crystal Palace will employ the same tactics against Manchester City in the early game on Saturday, with the home side fully aware of the talent that Pep Guardiola has at his disposal. Hodgson has no real injury worries but would still count a draw as a good result.

Pep Guardiola can be forgiven for seeing this EPL game as an inconvenience as he gets ready to face PSG in the Champions League next Tuesday. The lead from the first leg puts his team in a great position, and Crystal Palace away might not have quite the same attraction as that glamor tie.

But Guardiola has shown in the past that he wants to win every trophy he possibly can – and last weekend’s EFL Cup triumph over Spurs is a good example.

Any City starting eleven is always going to be difficult to beat.

With all the other important games coming up, it is tempting to see Manchester City relaxing here and allowing Crystal Palace to snatch victory. But I think that Guardiola will be demanding that his players give this their all, just as he will against PSG. City could actually win the league by winning here and other games going its way, so I’m going for the away win.