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 must find ways to break them down and find their usual rhythm.
"It takes time to change the rhythm because the 'keeper all the time takes the momentum, long balls. They are good at keeping the ball," said Guardiola. "They have quality, they defend really well with solidarity and defend the gaps and block the shots. We cannot say that we had many but we had enough chances in the first half to score."
The reverse fixture four-and-a-half months later was more a case of City failing to capitalise on their dominance; the Blues took 18 shots and enjoyed 74 per cent possession, but just couldn't score. Knowing Palace's own attacking prowess, the likes of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne will need to be clinical in front of goal.
"We created a lot of chances. On another day we will score," Guardiola said after the draw. "They know that when they play like this there is nothing to say."
If City are to end their Palace hoodoo then they will need to find a way of breaking their stubborn opponents down, guarding themselves against counter-attacks and most importantly scoring goals.
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