PREMIER LEAGUE MONDAY: The Striker previews CRYSTAL PALACE v MAN CITY with a recommended BETDAQ bet and extended match stats.
CRYSTAL PALACE V MANCHESTER CITY
8pm Just like buses, we wait months for Monday Night Football in the Premier League and then two come quickly together! Crystal Palace host Manchester City for Monday Night Football this week with the away side hot favourites on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. City are trading 1.36 at the time of writing and they are very much expected to win here – they need to too after Liverpool closed the gap at the weekend with a smooth 2-0 win over Brighton at the weekend. Crystal Palace are a decent, if average mid-table side, and you’d have to feel this is a case of how many goals will City score rather than will they win.
Patrick Vieira’s side were very impressive last weekend with a 2-0 win over Wolves and it could have been more to be honest. They are also still in the FA Cup, and they’ll be delighted with the Quarter-Final draw too as they are at home to Everton – that’s a fantastic chance to reach a Semi-Final. You could forgive them to planning for that fixture already as it’s on Sunday, and realistically not many punters will be expecting them to get something here.
Manchester City are also in action in the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon, but they need to keep winning in the Premier League to keep Liverpool six points away. Liverpool have been superb lately and although there isn’t much in it, Liverpool have the better goal difference. City can’t afford to let the gap slip to only three points as that would make for a very nervy finish to the season. In an ideal world they’d like to put their focus on the Champions League – Guardiola still has to deliver that for the club to be deemed a success. In my opinion he has transformed City until a wonderful team but they are almost expected to win the Premier League title now and the Champions League is always the acid test.
I don’t see much value in the match odds market here with City trading 1.36. That price looks about right, and they should get the job done. Crystal Palace did shock City in October with a 2-0 win at the Etihad though, so perhaps we could see a shock. That was one of City’s worst performances this season however, and they have been top class in 2022 – they have really found their form. I feel Palace won’t fully sit back for this fixture – they like to play an open brand of football and while that might not work against City in terms of a result, it should make for an enjoyable game to watch.
I was surprised to see Over 2.5 goals trading as big as 1.78 when I clicked into the market. Palace have scored and conceded on average 1.4 goals per Premier League game this season, and they have an average of 2.8 goals per game. Man City’s xG stats are obviously incredible, but I feel we’ll see an entertaining game here. City have been creating chances for fun, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 3-1 or 4-1 win. Overs looks the value for me though at the odds.
The Striker Says:
Two points win Over 2.5 goals at 1.78 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQCrymci
MATCH STATS
● Following their 2-0 win at the Etihad in October, Crystal Palace are looking to complete the league double over Manchester City for the first time since 1987-88 in the second tier.
● Manchester City have won five of their last six Premier League away games against Crystal Palace (D1), with their last defeat at Selhurst Park coming in a Monday night game in April 2015.
● Crystal Palace have failed to score in six of their 11 Premier League matches against Manchester City at Selhurst Park (55%). Among sides they have faced at least 10 times at home in the competition, they have only failed to score in a higher percentage against Manchester United (58% – 7/12).
● This will be Manchester City’s first Monday match in the Premier League since September 2020 against Wolves, a 3-1 win. City have won each of their last six such matches, conceding just one goal in the process – only two teams have ever won more games consecutively on Mondays in the Premier League; Arsenal between April 2002 and May 2006 (9), and Manchester United between December 2007 and April 2012 (9).
● Crystal Palace averaged 1.7 points-per-game at home under Patrick Vieira in the Premier League in 2021, compared to just 0.7 points-per-game away from home. Conversely, in 2022 they’re averaging 0.25 points-per-game at home, while picking up 1.8 points-per-game on the road.
● Manchester City are unbeaten in 13 away games in the Premier League since losing on the opening weekend of the season against Spurs (W11 D2). They last had a longer unbeaten run on the road in the competition between February and December 2018 (14).
● Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell has been involved in 1,356 open play sequences in the Premier League this season, the third-most of any player behind Manchester City’s João Cancelo (1,598) and Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold (1,470). Mitchell has started each of Palace’s last 34 league matches, the longest ongoing run for any player at the club.
● Manchester City’s Phil Foden has scored 11 goals in 16 appearances away from home in the Premier League since the start of 2021, with none of them coming from the penalty spot. Over the same period, the only player with more non-penalty goals away from home is Mohamed Salah (16), though the Egyptian has made seven more appearances on the road in this span.
● Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha scored his ninth league goal of the season last time out against Wolves, netting five times in his last eight appearances in the Premier League. Having scored 11 goals in the competition last season, Zaha could reach double figures in consecutive campaigns for the first time in his career.
● Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne has assisted seven goals against Crystal Palace in the Premier League, only registering more against Southampton (8) in the competition. The Belgian’s first ever appearance for Manchester City came at Selhurst Park in September 2015, coming off the bench in a 1-0 win under Manuel Pellegrini.
