Manchester City welcome Crystal Palace to the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
Crystal Palace’s Patrick Vieira is part of an eclectic group which consists of Jose Francisco Molina and Paul Cook as the only three managers to have never conceded a goal against a Pep Guardiola side.
Here’s the XI Guardiola may deploy to rectify that record against the Frenchman. Molina and Cook will have to wait.
Every touch from @BernardoCSilva‘s Man of the Match performance at Newcastle! 👀✨#ManCity pic.twitter.com/M49Pn5TrFI
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 23, 2022
GK: Ederson – According to Capology, Ederson gets paid less than nine other Premier League goalkeepers, including his upcoming opposite number, Crystal Palace’s Vicente Guaita.
RB: Kyle Walker – Up against an in-form Allan Saint-Maximin last weekend, Walker was dribbled past twice in the same Premier League game for the first time since November 2020.
CB: John Stones – City have conceded eight goals across Stones’ last three starts for the club.
CB: Ruben Dias – Given the injuries to both of City’s left-footed centre-backs – Aymeric Laporte and Nathan Ake – Dias’ flexibility may be called upon if he fills in on the left.
LB: Joao Cancelo – Across a star-studded career that has earned him league titles in Portugal, Italy and England, Cancelo has accumulated more than £100m in transfer fees.
CM: Kevin De Bruyne – City’s roving assist-merchant knows his worth. Or more specifically, he knows the team of data analysts to hire to quantify his worth during contract renegotiation talks. De Bruyne is the second-highest paid player in the Premier League after those discussions.
CM: Rodri – Perhaps buoyed by last season’s goalscoring exploits, only De Bruyne and Erling Haaland have taken aim more often than the trigger-happy midfielder this season.
CM: Bernardo Silva – Amid an off-season of incessant speculation surrounding his future, Bernardo marked his first start of the campaign for City with a goal last weekend.
RW: Riyad Mahrez – Palace are something of a bogey team for Mahrez who last beat the Eagles in 2016, he has lost four and drawn three of his seven matches since.
ST: Erling Haaland – Guardiola insists that Haaland will be rotated when the fixture list begins to stack up. However, with just one game a week at this point in time, the burly Norwegian may well keep his spot.
LW: Phil Foden – Guardiola fielded Foden as a false nine in both of City’s meetings with Palace last season. Yet, following the arrival of Haaland, the England international may be deployed out wide.
