Crystal Palace v Manchester City : Match Preview

Sometimes the biggest matches of the season are like buses. You wait around for ages and then several come at once.

Crystal Palace away is a bit of a needle fixture for me. Ingrained deeply in my memory for a variety of reasons, not all of them good. Last season on New Years Eve Manchester City played Palace and they roughed us up with series of shoddy challenges which went unpunished by the poor referee.

Five years ago Palace played an unwitting role in our title success. We scraped a nice victory there and Liverpool came undone there in a display of bottling it which is probably now ensconced forever in the dictionary.

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In a delightful piece of symmetry when we played Palace away 5 years ago, Liverpool had to play Chelsea on the same day. We got our title bid back on track and Stevie G slipped, leaving Demba Ba with a tap in enshrined in City songs ever since.

Of course the game this weekend has nothing to do with the past. Its irelevant- to all intents and purposes, it is a different country. But the memory of the defeat against Palace earlier in the campaign will be fresh in our minds. We owe them a pasting for the fact they had 2 shots on target at the Etihad that day and scored twice.

Guardiola will have an eye on the game on Wednesday in the Champions League Quarter Final second leg, but this Palace game is also a must win. And I expect we will go hard looking both for a win and to blow the cobwebs away.

For me there are only two real conundrums for Guardiola to address. Firstly is Ederson fit? He limped around midweek and has appeared since on social media looking like he is in recovery. We need our super cool pass master in nets if we are to prosper.

Secondly what to do at left back. Whilst Mendy looks fit again, it seems as though there is no chance of him playing more frequently than once every 7 days. His meniscus knee injury is inflamed after each work out and simply needs recovery time.

So does Pep play Mendy against Palace or Spurs? That is the decision he must make.

Most of the rest of this team will pick itself. Defence will be Danilo at right back if he is fit and Stones will partner Kompany at the back. Left back is between Delph and Mendy. Let us hope for Mendy.

Midfield will be built around Fernandinho with De Bruyne and Silva in front. If Pep is feeling confident then Foden may even get a decent run out. Attack will be our best front three with Sane and Sterling either side of Aguero.

I always feel for the travelling City fans at Palace. This is an awful stadium to get to and once you arrive you tend to find you have a poor view of the action.

This is a must win game. A win puts pressure on Liverpool who play later against Chelsea. Time and games are running out and now points are all that matter.