Pep Guardiola has already explained how Man City can end Crystal Palace hoodoo this weekend

Going off final league standings alone, there is little to suggest that Crystal Palace represent a particularly difficult opponent for Manchester City.

Between 2018/19 and 2021/22, City won the Premier League three times and finished second in the other, while Palace managed finishes of 12th, 14th, 14th and 12th. But only a fool would predict City to have an easy ride when the Eagles visit the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Palace have become something of a bogey team for City in recent seasons, taking points off Pep Guardiola's side in four of the last eight league meetings. Last season City failed to beat the London-based side, losing 2-0 at home in October before playing out a goalless draw at Selhurst Park in March.

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Those two encounters against Patrick Vieira's side were slightly different, in truth, although both involved City enjoying large amounts of possession and spurning plenty of clear chances.

The loss at the Etihad came about largely thanks to Palace executing their game plan to perfection. The visitors not only pressed City high up the pitch but also marked Rodri out of the game, inhibiting City's ability to build attacks from deep.

The fact that Wilfried Zaha scored so early on meant that Palace could then sit back and invite pressure from City, only to then hit them on the counter-attack. That was made easier after Aymeric Laporte was sent off shortly before half-time for hauling down Zaha on the break. Those kinds of individual errors cannot happen on Saturday.

"Unfortunately it went wrong in many, many things and we lose the game," Pep said after the defeat.

City cannot change how Vieira sets up his team, but they