Chris Sutton has backed Manchester City to secure a victory and keep a clean sheet in their upcoming Premier League match against Crystal Palace.
After finishing the group stage of the current Champions League tournament with a 3-2 win over Red Star Belgrade in midweek, the Citizens are back in Premier League action this weekend with a home match against Palace.
Looking ahead to the game, one pundit has shared his prediction for how it will go and what City could do in it.
Sutton backs City for perfect win over Palace
Written in his latest column for BBC Sport where he previewed all of this weekend’s top-flight fixtures, Sutton had this to say about City’s upcoming clash against Palace.
He said: “Manchester City got back to winning ways against Luton last week but they are still huffing and puffing a bit.
“It looks like Jeremy Doku is still injured and they will be without Erling Haaland again too – his dad and half of his family have taken him out of their Fantasy teams – but they should still have too much for Crystal Palace.
“The Eagles were unlucky to lose against Liverpool last time out and will defend stubbornly, so City will have to work hard to break them down, but I think they will manage it.
“I am actually going to go with City to keep a rare clean sheet too, which would be their first in the league since the end of October. I have got Ederson in my Fantasy team so if he does concede again, I will get rid of him.”
Focusing on Sutton’s point about seeing Pep Guardiola’s side potentially keep a clean sheet on Saturday, the fact that they haven’t been able to do that in the league since their 3-0 win over Manchester United in October shows why the pundit thinks it would be a rare thing for them to do.
Also, with Roy Hodgson’s side having lost six of their eight previous league games, this makes it easy to see why Sutton thinks the Eagles may struggle once again this weekend, regardless of which City players could miss the game.
With City only keeping four clean sheets in the Premier League so far this season, getting one this weekend, as well as three points, would definitely be something positive for the club to get their hands on.
