The Premier League title will come down to which of the three teams involved — Arsenal, Liverpool or Manchester City — can hold their nerve.
And while all three teams are favored this weekend, two of them have tricky matchups that could end up deciding who is lifting the trophy in six weeks.
Let’s take a look at Saturday’s Manchester City vs. Crystal Palace matchup (7:30 a.m. ET, USA Network/NBC.com) and make a pick.
Manchester City vs. Crystal Palace odds
| Manchester City | Crystal Palace | Draw | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| -350 | +950 | +470 | o2.5 (-167)/u2.5 (+125) |
Manchester City vs. Crystal Palace analysis
Oddsmakers aren’t giving Crystal Palace (+950) much of a chance to pull the upset Saturday, but City fans know better than to overlook this matchup.
Selhurst Park is a tough place to play under any circumstances and Palace has been something of a bogey team for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City over the years.
The Eagles famously upset the Cityzens as +2000 underdogs in 2021 and earned a 2-2 draw with them in their first encounter this season.
It makes some sense that Palace has given City trouble over the years.
Guardiola’s teams want to be on the ball as much as possible and create chances through intricate passing combinations, while Palace feels most comfortable sitting deep and daring teams to break them down.
It’s not the most exciting of stylistic matchups, but it is one that can frustrate City.
In all likelihood, Manchester City will have too much of the ball and be able to nudge a goal or two past Palace to get the win, but it would be a surprise to see this encounter go off-script.
That’s not only because of the stylistic tendencies of these two sides, but also because of the schedule spot for City.
The Sky Blues are coming off a big win over Aston Villa on Wednesday and will need to quickly turn around after Saturday’s trip to Selhurst Park and head to Spain for the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal with Real Madrid on Tuesday.
That should put some pressure on Guardiola to direct his team to get ahead in this match and then take the sting out of the game by keeping the ball — and clock — moving.
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Manchester City vs. Crystal Palace pick
City’s approach for this match will likely be to get out of South London with three points by any means necessary, so I expect this to be a bit of a snoozer.
That puts some value on under 2.5 or, if you’re feeling froggy, a bet on City to win 1-0 at +750.
The Bet: Under 2.5 (+130, BetRivers); Long-shot Bet: Manchester City to win 1-0 (+750)
