Pep Guardiola sends Patrick Vieira glowing praise ahead of Crystal Palace showdown

Pep Guardiola has lavished Crystal Palace and Patrick Veiria with praise ahead of his Manchester City side’s visit to Selhurst Park on Monday night.

The league leaders head to south London in a bid to avenge their 2-0 defeat to the Eagles back in October, where goals from Wilfried Zaha and Conor Gallagher handed City a first home defeat of the campaign at the Etihad.

It is regarded as one of Vieria ’s best moments of the season so far in which he has taken to Premier League management impressively well, keeping Palace in the hunt for a top-half finish and guiding them into the FA Cup quarter-finals where they face Everton next week.

The Frenchman began his coaching career at Manchester City after hanging up his boots there in 2011 and previously spent time observing Guardiola in training sessions at Bayern Munich and at City while he was rising through the ranks.

Now, as the two former midfield greats turned managers prepare to lock horns once again, Guardiola has been talking up Vieira for how easily he has settled back into the English top flight.

“Patrick knows perfectly the Premier League, he has been one of the best players of all time in this league,” Guardiola told reporters at his pre-match press conference on Thursday.

“He knows the stadiums, the media, the smell of the competition. Personally, I'm happy he's going well.

“Seeing their run, one loss in eight games in all competitions, the physicality, organisation, quality upfront, especially with [Wilfried] Zaha.

“When they defend deep, so difficult to break down. Selhurst Park is always difficult to go to. It's a final for us, we know it.”

Vieira also didn’t hold back in his praise of Manchester City, whom he described as one of the best sides in Europe