Manchester City head to Selhurst Park this weekend as they continue to chase Liverpool and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League. A decent victory for City will take them top for a short while at least, with the Mersey Reds visiting Old Trafford on Sunday and Arsenal off for a day in Brighton.
The Eagles salvaged a point at the Etihad Stadium in December as a late penalty levelled after the Blues had led 2-0. However, Palace have won just two games since the turn of the year, but the poor form of teams in the bottom three has seen them open up an eight-point gap above the relegation zone.
Here, we take a look at their form, danger men and the man who finally replaced Roy Hodgson as manager.
Form
As mentioned above, Palace have just two wins to their credit in 2024. Both of them have been home wins against Sheffield United (3-2) and Burnley (3-0) and have failed to record a solitary point at home against any of the top six sides.
Palace have taken just sixteen points from a possible 42 at home, winning four and losing six of those. They have scored just 19 times at Selhurst Park, conceded 20 and have failed to score four times at home.
The Eagles are winless in four matches, losing at Spurs and Bournemouth whilst drawing 1-1 at home to Luton Town and away to Forest.
Danger Men
Jean-Philippe Mateta is the main threat for Palace. The French striker has scored 9 goals so far this season, has a goal conversion rate of 33% and a shot accuracy rating of 74%. He has scored in each of his last two home games for Palace. Odsonne Édouard, Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise have all scored six each. Olise has the better goal conversion rate of the three with 33%, while Eze has a better shot accuracy (62%).
Jordan Ayew has been responsible for providing assists for seven Palace goals this season. He has created 17 chances from 30 games and has attempted a total of 742 passes, 593 of which have been completed, giving him a pass accuracy of 80%. Mateta and Eze have four assists each, with the latter having the highest pass accuracy at 84%. Joachim Anderson has attempted the most passes with 1,841, 1,467 being completed, while Marc Guéhi, proud owner of a solitary assist, has the highest pass accuracy level at 86%.
The Boss
Oliver Glasner took over from Roy Hodgson at the end of February. The Austrian defender spent four years in Germany, taking Eintracht Frankfurt to the Champions League last 16. He has only presided over five matches for Crystal Palace and won his first game in charge, a 3-0 home win over Burnley. However, his team have only taken two points from the following 12. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that one win in five matches is a win ratio of just 20%.
Last Time Out
Palace scored an injury-time equaliser at the Etihad Stadium, however, last season at Selhurst Park, City needed an Erling Haaland penalty, 12 minutes from time, to secure the three points for City.