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Home   >   Features   >   Title rivals preview: Man City vs Luton, Liverpool vs Crystal Palace

Title rivals preview: Man City vs Luton, Liverpool vs Crystal Palace

By on April 11, 2024

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We have another exciting weekend of Premier League action to look forward to as the title race enters the business end of the season. Today, I’m going to preview the games involving Arsenal’s nearest challengers in the table as Liverpool take on Crystal Palace and Manchester City entertain Luton Town.

Manchester City vs Luton Town

Defending champions City get the opportunity to draw first blood and put the pressure on their title rivals when they take on Luton Town at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Not for the first time this season, City had to come from behind to claim all three points when they took on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park last weekend. Palace took an early lead through Jean-Philippe Mateta but they came storming back to go 4-1 up thanks to a double from Kevin De Bruyne, and goals from Rico Lewis and Erling Haaland. Odsonne Edouard pulled one back for Palace late on but Man City won 4-2 to move top of the table.

They soon slipped to third after Arsenal went top after beating Brighton while Liverpool moved second on goal difference with 2-2 draw at Manchester United last Sunday. It means just one point separates the top three with just seven games remaining, so things couldn’t be tighter in the title race. With Arsenal and Liverpool both playing on Sunday, City can move two points clear of their rivals if they beat Luton on Saturday.

The Hatters come into the game off the back of a vital 2-1 win over Bournemouth last weekend. That victory moved them level on points with Nottingham Forest but Luton remain in the bottom three so they desperately need to pull off a shock at the Etihad to boost their survival hopes.

Team news

City will assess Phil Foden after he limped off during the thrilling 3-3 draw with Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash on Tuesday night. Pep Guardiola is hoping it was just a dead leg so Foden should be available to face Luton on Saturday.

Kyle Walker will also need to be checked over after missing the last few games with a thigh injury. Nathan Ake is expected to remain on the sidelines as he continues to recover from a calf injury.

Ederson is back in contention after returning to full fitness so he could replace Ortega in goal. Kevin de Bruyne is also pushing for a recall after not featuring against Madrid in midweek.

As for Luton, they have a huge injury list to contend with ahead of the game. Thomas Lockyer, Marvelous Nakamba, Jacob Brown, Dan Potts, Amari’i Bell, Elijah Adebayo, Chiedozie Ogbene, Mads Andersen, Issa Kabore, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Gabriel Osho are all set to miss the trip to the Etihad.

Prediction

Obviously Luton are fighting for their lives at the bottom end of the table and they’ve shown several times this season they can raise their game against the big boys. However, it’s difficult to see past a routine win for City. They are a formidable side, especially at home, so I just can’t see past a comfortable home victory on Saturday. Even if Guardiola decides to rest some key players ahead of the Madrid game, I still think City will ease to victory. Man City 3-0 Luton

Liverpool vs Crystal Palace

Liverpool will be looking to get back to winning ways in the Premier League when they take on Crystal Palace at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.

The Reds relinquished top spot to Arsenal last weekend after being held to a 2-2 draw away to Man Utd. Luis Diaz gave Liverpool a deserved lead and they could have been out of sight by half-time. However, United responded after the break and took the lead through goals from Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo. Mo Salah scored a late penalty for Liverpool to salvage a draw but it was two points dropped for the Merseysiders.

With three away games to come against Fulham, Everton and West Ham before hosting Tottenham, Liverpool have a tricky run coming up so they cannot afford to slip up at home to Crystal Palace this weekend. With so many important games coming up, the demand for Liverpool tickets is huge as fans are desperate to support the club during Jurgen Klopp’s final few games in charge. The Reds also have to navigate their Europa League quarter-final with Atalanta either side of the Palace game, so it will be interesting to see how Klopp rotates his squad over the next few matches.

As for Palace, they head to Anfield after being beaten 4-2 by Man City last time out. The Eagles took an early lead in the game but were blown away by City in the end, so they’ll be looking to put-in an improved display on Saturday to help them move away from the relegation dog-fight.

Team news

Liverpool were boosted by the return of some key players to training this week. Alisson Becker is back after recovering from a thigh injury that’s kept him out for the last few weeks so he could return in goal.

Trent Alexander-Arnold also returned to full training after overcoming a knee injury so the England international could feature against Palace. Diogo Jota is another player who could make his long-awaited return to action this weekend after recovering from a knee injury.

Stefan Bajcetic is also back in training but he’s not expected to be available just yet having been out for several months. Joel Matip and Thiago Alcantara remain on the sidelines.

Palace will be without a number of players for the trip to Anfield. Cheick Doucoure, Marc Guehi, Rob Holding, Christopher Richards and Matheus Oliviera are all missing while Jesurun Rak-Sakyi is also a doubt.

Prediction

Palace can be a tricky side to play against, but they usually save their best form for when they play at Selhurst Park. Anfield is one of the hardest places to go and I don’t really give Palace much hope of getting a result this weekend. If they can keep things tight and shut Liverpool out until half-time, maybe they can hope for a draw. However, I don’t think we’ll see the Reds slip-up in this game.

Playing following a Europa League quarter final on Thursday night is never easy, and it may take something out of the Liverpool players, but I still think the hosts will have too much quality for the visitors. Liverpool 2-0 Palace