Kevin De Bruyne made a goalscoring return to the starting line up against Leicester City in the Carabao Cup midweek.

Sergio Aguero also made his comeback following a groin injury, meaning manager Pep Guardiola has two key players fit and ready to play through the intensive Christmas schedule.

City are, however, still without five first-team players. Captain Vincent Kompany missed out for a second successive game against Leicester due to a muscular problem.

David Silva (hamstring) is still unavailable while Benjamin Mendy (knee) and Claudio Bravo (Achilles) are out for the long term. Eliaquim Mangala’s recovery from a serious knee injury has taken a setback after he was substituted just eight minutes into a match for the Under 23s on Saturday.
Danilo could return to face Palace, though, after recovering from an ankle problem.

Palace’s injury list is a bit shorter. Wayne Hennessey missed the 1-0 win over Leicester last week due to a back injury and he is a doubt for this weekend. Vicente Guaita may keep his place in goal.

Cheikhou Kouyate had to be subbed in the second half against the Foxes after picking up a knock and could miss out on Saturday too. Christian Benteke remains sidelined until the New Year following knee surgery.

The bookies have City as clear favourites with the current Premier League champions 2/13 odds-on with BetVictor. A draw is best priced at 9/1 with Betfair, while a Palace victory is 22/1 at Ladbrokes.

Manchester City’s Predicted XI To Face Crystal Palace:

Ederson, Walker, Stones, Laporte, Delph, Gundogan, Fernandinho, Bernardo Silva, Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Sane

Crystal Palace’s Predicted XI:

Guaita, Wan-Bissaka, Tomkins, Sakho, van Aanholt, McArthur, Milivojevic, Meyer, Schlupp, Townsend, Zaha

Predicted Score – 4-0 to City