Pep Guardiola’s side are currently ahead of their local rivals on alphabetical order, with the two teams possessing identical records after five games. It has been a fantastic couple of weeks for City, who thrashed Liverpool 5-0 and Watford 6-0 in the Premier League, while also easing past Feyenoord in the Champions League by four goals to nil. The pressure is on the team to win trophies this season, largely because of the huge sums spent in the transfer market in the summer, and their performances in the last few weeks suggest City are indeed ready to add another league title to the trophy cabinet. Having said that, it is still early days in the campaign and supporters will remember that Guardiola’s men made an even better start to last season, before ultimately finishing 15 points behind champions Chelsea in third place.
It is a completely different story for Crystal Palace, who are rooted to the foot of the table having failed to win a point or score a goal in their first five outings. Roy Hodgson did pick up his first win as manager in the EFL Cup in midweek, but the situation he has inherited at Selhurst Park looks very bleak indeed, even with 99 points still to play for. The appointment of Frank de Boer in the summer was clearly a mistake on the club's part, while the players are currently extremely low on confidence after a nightmare start to the season. It is far too early to proclaim Palace dead and buried, but there is no doubt that the south London outfit have their work cut out as they attempt to retain their Premier League status this year.
City will have to make do without club captain Vincent Kompany, who is still struggling with a calf problem, but Guardiola has an otherwise fully fit squad of players to choose from. The two-time Premier League champions have employed three-man and four-man backlines in the opening weeks of the season, but the absence of Kompany means the latter is more likely this weekend.
Fernandinho will anchor the midfield behind David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and one of Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane or Bernardo Silva, with Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus set to resume their partnership up front. City have already scored 16 goals this term and possess an incredible array of attacking weapons, which does not bode well for opponents who have not kept a clean sheet and lost every top-flight encounter they have contested so far in 2017/18.
Wilfried Zaha (knee) remains sidelined for the Eagles, while Connor Wickham will not return until the start of 2018 as he continues to recover from an anterior cruciate ligament injury. Former Liverpool centre-back Mamadou Sakho, signed by Palace on deadline day after a successful loan spell at Selhurst Park last term, should start for the first time in the Premier League this season, alongside either James Tomkins or Scott Dann in the heart of the visitors’ backline.
Jason Puncheon could continue out wide due to the absence of Zaha, with Townsend on the other flank and Christian Benteke between the duo up top; in the centre of the park, meanwhile, defence-minded Serbia international Luka Milivojevic will probably replace James McArthur and operate in the middle of Yohan Cabaye and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
It is impossible to look past a City victory in this one, with Palace having shown little so far to suggest they can stop Guardiola’s rampant outfit. A home win to nil is one wager worth considering, while it could also be worth backing City to come out on top in a game featuring more than 3.5 goals. In the anytime goalscorer market, meanwhile, Sane could be an astute outside bet – even if the Germany international may start on the substitutes’ bench.
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