Manchester City are looking to extend their winning streak to eight games when they welcome Crystal Palace to the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday.
City’s enterprising 1-0 win over Brighton midweek was their fourth league win on the spin and seventh in all competitions, with victories over Chelsea and Manchester United in that time.
Phil Foden’s goal was the difference as Pep Guardiola once again opted against starting a recognised striker, largely due to the recent absence of Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero.
Crystal Palace meanwhile did have forward options on the pitch in their clash with Arsenal on Thursday night, although the Eagles weren’t potent enough to register a goal against the Gunners with the game ending 0-0.
Palace reside 13th in the Premier League standings and as is often the case Roy Hodgson will look to Wilfried Zaha to make an impression, with the Ivory Coast international having scored a brace in away victories at Old Trafford and the Hawthorns already this season.
As for team news, fitness continues to be of concern to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, who will once again be missing defenders Nathan Ake and Aymeric Laporte for the game.
Eric Garcia seems a likely candidate to step in, although speculation around his future at the Etihad Stadium continues to swirl amidst strong interest from Barcelona – and a positive coronavirus test rules him out of this one too.
Covid-19 has also put a stop to Sergio Aguero’s involvement, with the striker in self-isolation due to coming in to close contact with a carrier of the virus despite testing negative himself.
Crystal Palace won’t have at least 6 first team stars available to them against Manchester City, although none of those absences are coronavirus-related.
Goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey remains a long term injury victim, as do defenders Martin Kelly and Nathan Ferguson with calf and thigh strains respectively.
Jeffrey Schlupp and Mamadou Sakho are also ruled out for the trip to the Etihad having picked up muscle strains last week also.
Manchester City v Crystal Palace kicks off at 7.15pm on Sunday 17th January.
