🏏 Fri, 28 Aug 2026 20:00 BST
Crystal Palace
vs
Manchester City
3-4-2-1 vs 4-2-3-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Crystal Palace begin the night 16th after a 0-2 opening-day defeat away at Everton left them pointless and without a goal. Manchester City arrive on three points having edged Bournemouth 2-1 at home, though goal difference alone leaves them eighth in a table where nine clubs share three points and Brighton top it on +4. At this stage of the season, one result reshuffles everything.
- The headline storyline is Marc Guehi's return to Selhurst Park. The 26-year-old England centre-back arrived from Chelsea via a loan at Swansea City and grew into one of the Premier League's most reliable defenders at Palace before joining City in the winter of 2026. Now he lines up against the supporters who watched him develop, bringing the same blend of one-on-one defending, covering and composed distribution.
- Japan international Daichi Kamada, 30, starts in the middle of Palace's midfield four in a 3-4-2-1. The attacking midfielder won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt and spent a spell at Lazio before arriving in south London, and he played his part in the 2025 FA Cup triumph. His late runs and incisive through balls pair with Adam Wharton, the 22-year-old signed from Blackburn Rovers and called into the EURO 2024 squad, whose left foot sets the tempo.
- Palace also field a second Japan international in defence. Takehiro Tomiyasu, 27, takes a place in the back three after a career that ran from Avispa Fukuoka through Sint-Truiden and Bologna to 84 appearances across four seasons at Arsenal. Standing 187cm and comfortable on both feet, he can operate at right-back, centre-back or in midfield, and his positional intelligence will be tested by City's movement.
- The shape battle sets Palace's 3-4-2-1 against City's 4-2-3-1. Tyrick Mitchell, 26, an academy graduate with more than 180 appearances for the club and past England recognition, patrols the left flank, while 21-year-old Anan Halaily, signed from Union Saint-Gilloise for a record fee for an Israeli player, takes the right. How high those wing-backs dare to push will define whether Palace can contain City's width.
- There is a Norwegian centre-forward on each side. City's Erling Haaland, 26, combines a 195cm frame with startling speed and scored 36 goals in his debut Premier League campaign after arriving from Borussia Dortmund via Salzburg and Molde. Palace counter with Jorgen Strand Larsen, also 26 and 193cm, a club-record 48m-pound signing from Wolves whose aerial presence and hold-up play give the hosts a reference point.
- City's attacking band is loaded with creators. Rayan Cherki, 23, a Lyon academy product who dribbles and passes off both feet, lines up alongside academy jewel Phil Foden, 26, a former PFA Player of the Year, and Ghana's Antoine Semenyo, 26, who developed at Bournemouth before moving north in the winter of 2026. Behind them sits Elliot Anderson, 23, signed from Nottingham Forest for around 116m pounds - a British record - and a starter in all eight games of a third-place 2026 World Cup run.
- Palace's back line mixes youth and pedigree. USA international Chris Richards, 26, who won Bundesliga honours at Bayern Munich, anchors the centre, while 20-year-old Jaydee Canvot, a Clairefontaine graduate who arrived from Toulouse, takes the left-sided berth. Canvot began his career as an attacker, and his comfort on the ball could be Palace's route out of the pressing traps City set.
- The goalkeeping matchup is a heavyweight one. Gianluigi Donnarumma, 27 and 196cm, became Milan's first choice as a teenager, was named player of the tournament at EURO 2020 and won the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain in 2025. Facing him is Palace captain Dean Henderson, 29, a Manchester United academy product with Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest on his CV who was central to the 2025 FA Cup win.
- Both benches offer genuine game-changers. Palace can turn to Ivory Coast forward Evann Guessand, 25, voted Nice's player of the season in 2024-25, left-footed winger Dwight McNeil, 26, formerly of Burnley and Everton, and Colombia right-back Daniel Munoz, 30, a veteran of 148 games at Genk. City hold Mateo Kovacic, 32, whose career spans Dinamo Zagreb, Inter, Real Madrid and Chelsea, plus Algeria left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri, 25, who spent four seasons at Wolves.