Crystal Palace V Manchester City pre match thread

[mancity1]

We have to stay mentally strong, and handle a potential Liverpool win at home to Chelsea

Liverpool can slip up away at Palace or at home to Newcastle. Palace beat Chelsea after all

I agree. Turn a negative into a positive. The title becomes a straight fight between us and the Scousers.
A win at Palace also means we are strong favourites to get at least the runners-up spot etc,etc.
The problem is I see it that way, you see it that way but will this group of players and manager see it
that way? The way we crumbled against Sunderland doesn't inspire me to believe that we will
"fight to the end". I hope I'm wrong because I can't see Palace losing to both us & Liverpool so
a win there by us would mean it's still on.

Surely we did 'fight to the end though' against Sunderland, thus snatching what could be a very valuable point (and almost won it) from the jaws of defeat

From the second minute until the 83rd we were second best and ineffective going forward against a side we should have dominated especially on our own patch.

I am not one of those that likes to dwell on one or two defining moments in a season that results in one saying this was the reason we didn't finish top or something along those lines because I firmly believe that you have to look at the whole season and many factors come into play but this was 2 points dropped and too little was left to too few to late.

It was a fortunate point we got but we bottled a huge opportunity to get three and the fact that Sunderland went on to beat Chelsea to dent their chances as well is of no consolation to our cause.

 

[Balti]

whatever way you look at it we need to win

irresepective of what the scousers do against chelski

and if pellers can't get 'em up for it then there is summat wrong

 

[Healdplace]

Exactly, someone should remind them that two wins or a win and two draws are still required to assure automatic entry into the Champions League.

Even if Liverpool win moments before KO then feeling sorry for themselves is not an option.

Losing will leave them with a lot to do in the final three games - the next of which could be against a team who would go above City if they beat Southampton Saturday and then City at home.

Crystal Palace are mathematically safe, City need points to ensure group qualification. Only one team should have 100% motivation here.

If Pellegrini is unable to motivate the team with facts like that staring at them because they feel disappointed then there is a problem somewhere.

 

[mancity1]

Remember the monumental game that Yaya played at St James's Park in 2012? Of course you do. If he's going to step up and do it again, now's the time.
Is Aguero definitely in for this? By the way he limped around gingerly for ten minutes before going off on Monday, I was worried that he'd done himself again. If he's in, and Yaya's in, then we can definitely, definitely take the three points. It's greatly to our advantage, in my opinion, that we will know the result of dippers v chavs before even kicking off. For once the schedule has favoured us. We'll know exactly what's required.

If the players attitude towards the game is altered because of what Liverpool do or don't do then clearly they are not being as professional as they should be.

They have to treat each game as a Cup final ( yes don't remind me about Wigan ) were victory is a must.

To finish with 86 points given our start is an excellent end it itself.

If that means we finish second then so be it , we can do nothing about the past and neither can the players.

If they have Liverpool and what they do as a mitigating factor they might as well hope that Southampton do us a favour on Saturday as well and well as Newcastle on Monday.

 

[J16ALJ]

Additional tickets on sale for palace, i can get hold of 3 adults, 1 child if anyone interested in them message me. I live in the Bolton area as tickets will need picking up or delivering

 

[Joe Hart's Dandruff]

Hart

Zab....Kompany.....De Mic.....Clichy/Kolarov

ya ya.....ferna

Milner.......Nasri......Jovetic

Aguero

Milner dropping back to help out Yaya and Ferna defensively, and more importantly, allwoing them to get forward more and run at the opposition's defense.

 

[Bluep*ss]

I wonder what the odds are for a NORTH/SOUTH Double.
'Pool and City win,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Chelsea and Palace win.
I would prefer , of course , City and Chelsea win

 

[supercity88]

Typical City would be for Liverpool to drop points and then us to do exactly the same. For some reason I am confident we will beat Palace. I think their recent run will make them a bit over confident and will therefore bring them out of their usual ultra defensive mould and make them play with a bit more risk. I think that could play into our hands. Ideally Liverpool lose to Chelsea - even if they draw though, and we do beat Palace we have the tricky task of playing Everton. They will be missing Mirallas and Barry and are definitely beatable - if we win there too then Liverpool will go to a Palace side that perhaps return to their usual defend deep and counter style and slip up again.

Generally, and historically we've struggled at places like Palace and Everton - teams that play deep and physical football. But now Everton are more fluid and attacking and therefore I think we will beat them. I also don't see Palace as too much of a concern. We struggled to break them down at home but I am confident we will create chances and therefore win the game. Liverpool have got two games against teams that sit back and counter. When you are the current champions, or when you are top of the league, teams decide to settle for a point and park the bus. It will be difficult to break them down and Chelsea and Palace are two of the best teams in the league at sitting back and hitting teams on the counter. Norwich did it with ease, we created a lot of chances, Sunderland had opportunities... I can see Liverpool's tactic of scoring in the opening 30mins of failing in both games and if they concede first they may get picked off. I still have a lot of confidence that they will drop points. My confidence in City winning their last 4 is slightly lower... I think it would be typical for us to win the next two and then drop points in our remaining home games but looking at it generically, these are 4 games you have to win if you want to be top of the table, regardless of when you play them.

 

[GSW Blue]

I'm sure Manuel has carefully calculated exactly what is required and will be setting the team up to achieve a draw that will give us the point we need to win the league.

 

[Wilf Wild 1937]

Hart

Zab....Kompany.....De Mic.....Clichy/Kolarov

ya ya.....ferna

Milner.......Nasri......Jovetic

Aguero

Milner dropping back to help out Yaya and Ferna defensively, and more importantly, allwoing them to get forward more and run at the opposition's defense.

I agree with your selection. He absolutely must start Jovetic with Silva out.
I just hope that Yaya is somewhere close to full fitness. Personally I'd go with Kolarov rather than Clichy but there's little to choose between the two.