Man City predicted XI: Cityzens host must-win Palace clash with Premier League title on the line

However, it wasn’t enough for City to knock Arsenal off the top spot, with the Gunners securing a controversial 1-0 victory over relegation-battling West Ham United.

City welcome Palace to Manchester, five points behind their title rivals, although they could reduce that deficit to two with a win later tonight.

With an FA Cup final against Chelsea scheduled for the weekend, the pressure is growing on Guardiola and his troops, who are still hoping to end the season with a domestic double.

Nevertheless, playing on home turf in back-to-back games could have its advantages, considering the Cityzens have a unique yet remarkable record at the Etihad.

They are unbeaten in 36 Premier League home games played on a Wednesday, winning a remarkable 30 of those fixtures since May 2010 (D6).

If that’s not enough to bolster confidence ahead of this must-win contest, you’d have to go back to the end of August last year for the last time City lost a league game on home turf (W13, D3).

Only once have City been bested by Palace in their last nine meetings in all competitions (W5, D3), but that defeat came when it mattered the most as the Eagles secured a 1-0 win in the 2025 FA Cup final.

How Man City could line up

Ripping up the team that dispatched Brentford without breaking a sweat could scupper City’s chances of securing back-to-back Premier League wins.

However, with another FA Cup final on the horizon, Guardiola could make a couple of tweaks to the XI.

Gianluigi Donnarumma will remain in goal, while Abdukodir Khusanov comes in for Nathan Ake to join Marc Guehi, Nico O’Reilly, and Matheus Nunes in defence.

Nico Gonzalez, who joined City in a £50 million deal, should return to the XI in place of Tijjani Reijnders after sitting out the Brentford victory.

He’ll likely be joined by Bernardo Silva in midfield while a front four of Doku, Rayan Cherki, Antoine Semenyo, and Haaland remains unchanged.