Before entering the round of 16, Man City was only 2 points behind leaders Arsenal in the rankings. Meanwhile, Crystal Palace also had an impressive season, finishing 4th and only 5 points behind Man City.
Palace's form
Crystal Palace have won 26 points after 15 matches in the Premier League this season. This is their best start to the season ever and double the points they got at this stage last season.
So far, they have won 7, including wins against strong sides like Aston Villa and defending champions Liverpool, while the rest have been wins against bottom-placed sides like Brentford, Burnley, Fulham, West Ham and Wolves.
Their three defeats came against Everton, Arsenal and Man United their most recent defeat was their first home defeat in 2025.
Coach
Oliver Glasner, 51, has been a senior manager for more than a decade, initially leading Austrian sides such as SV Ried and last time out.
He moved to Germany in 2019 to manage Wolfsburg for two seasons before moving to Eintracht Frankfurt, where he won the Europa League in his first season.
These achievements have caught the attention of English football, and Palace signed him in the summer of 2023.
After a slow start, Glasner took Crystal Palace to new heights by helping them win the FA Cup last year and Community Shield earlier this year.
Up to now, this strategist has won 27 out of 66 matches in the Premier League, achieving a winning rate of nearly 41%.
Direct confrontation achievements
Although Selhurst Park is known as a difficult stadium to play, Man City have never taste defeat here in their last 10 visits.
Since April 2015, Man City have won 7 and drawn 3 of their 10 away matches against Palace.
In a total of 30 Premier League confrontations, Man City have won 18 matches and scored 64 goals. In the Premier League era, Palace have only won 4 against Man City, the rest are 8 draws.
How they score
Of Crystal Palace's last 20 Premier League wins, 17 have come when they have less than 50% possession, and 13 of those come in 2025.
That shows that they do not pay too much attention to ball control but still take every opportunity to attack when possible.
However, they have yet to score a goal that is defined as a "quick counter-attack goal" according to Opta statistics this season.
They also often start very quickly against Man City, leading in the first 10 minutes in four of the last six meetings.
With 20 goals so far, Palace are firmly in the middle of the rankings for goals scored. This achievement is quite close to the expected goals of 24.6 - ranking 5th in the Premier League.
Jean- Philippe Mateta is Palace's top scorer, with 7 goals, while the two wingers Ismaila Sarr and Daniel Munoz each have 3 goals.
Defense power
Palace have one of the most solid defenses in the Premier League, having only conceded 12 goals, a record only behind Arsenal (grossing 9 goals), as of round 16.
Glasner's side played very solidly in the first half, when they had only conceded four goals. In contrast, after the break, they conceded 8 goals.
Dean Henderson is also one of the Premier League's best goalkeepers, having successfully blocked 75% of the shots he has faced - ranking third in the league.
The Crystal Palace vs Man City match takes place at 9:00 p.m. on December 14.
