Premier League: The Eagles Soar Through the Dangerous Sky Blues

Manchester City vs Crystal Palace

Manchester City fell to the fourth spot in the Premier League table after a pedestrian stretch of football for the last couple of matchdays. But they recently got back to their winning ways when they tasted sweet victory once again against Luton Town.

This would only come as bad news for struggling Crystal Palace, who are having an abysmal campaign and are susceptible to relegation if they don’t consistently produce agreeable Premier League 2023 results.

Talking Points

Manchester City are back (?)

No one was really concerned when the Sky Blues were, by their standards, having a poor stretch of football. Before Matchday 16, Manchester City had failed to produce a win since their 6-1 victory against Bournemouth on November 4.

Chelsea fought fire with fire to tally a 4-4 draw, then Liverpool’s Alexander Arnold scored a late goal to end the match on a 1-1 score line. After that, Tottenham produced one of their best games of the season and got out of the Etihad Stadium with a 3-3 draw.

Aston Villa, on the other hand, had no plans on sharing the points with Manchester City and proceeded to hand Pep’s squad their third loss of the season with a 1-0 victory.

There were some concerns, of course, but nothing too severe that would require Pep to sound the alarm at Etihad. True enough, the Sky Blues ended their lackluster streak and gone back to their winning ways when they visited Luton and took care of business in true Sky Blues fashion.

“We lost one game in the last six or seven, and [it’s seemingly] a big disaster. We lost one game and drew the others but we performed really well. Because of what we won in the past we are used to it not happening much.” Guardiola exclaimed.

It was a headscratcher for Manchester City fans to see Luton Town with the lead at halftime. But the championship pedigree of Pep and his squad shined all throughout the second half, as Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish led the treble winners to a come-from-behind win against a Luton team that’s in danger of relegation.

Erling Haaland suffers foot injury

The Ballon d’Or nominee missed Sunday’s 2-1 victory against Luton Town with a stress fracture on his foot. This obviously sparked some concerns, not just for Haaland but for the club itself. Haaland leads the list of top goal scorers in the English top flight with 14, showing why he is such a pivotal player for Pep. His goal-scoring abilities are legendary, but the 23-year-old does so many more things than finding the back of the net.

The Norwegian striker also dished out four assists this season in the Premier League, and his sheer presence on the field provides so much angst to boost his teammates’ morale and strike intimidation to the hearts of their opponents.

Injuries can never come at an opportune time, but getting injured during a packed December slate will definitely cause some concerns for Pep and the rest of the team.

“No. He’ll be back, I think, on Thursday. We’ll see how he feels.” Guardiola said when asked if Haaland had trained since missing the trip to Luton.

History

Since 2004, these clubs have faced each other 25 times, with Manchester City dominating with 19 wins while the Eagles managed to win three and tally three draws as well.

Scoring has been a conservative subject when these clubs face off, as they’ve only managed to find the back of the net a total of 75 times, with Manchester City scoring 59 goals while Crystal Palace were able to score 16 times.

In recent history, the Sky Blues have won 11 of the last 16 Premier League games against the Eagles. They only lost two times, but interestingly enough, both losses were suffered at Etihad Stadium.

The Sky Blues are also riding an unbeaten streak at home in their last 18 Premier League games, but City’s dominance at Etihad Stadium has become stagnant as their last two games at home ended in a draw (1-1 against Liverpool and 3-3 against Tottenham).

Betting Tip

Surprisingly, 12 of Manchester City’s 13 goals against Crystal Palace in their recent meetings have come after the first half of the game, including the past 10 in a row. So, to have them end the first half in a draw doesn’t seem too farfetched, and to have it priced at 2.87 makes this line a sleeper most punters could oversee.

The SBOTOP Premier League 2023 odds have the home team rightfully as the overwhelming favourites at 1.18 to win, while Crystal Palace are priced at 10.50 to pull out an upset and 6.20 to tally a draw.

Given the severity of contrast in Man City’s form compared to Crystal Palace’s, the price of 1.18 doesn’t really hold that much bang for your buck, and I would personally consider choosing the draw line at 6.20 if punters would want to bet on the main lines.

 

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