Manchester City will aim to make it two wins on the bounce in the Premier League when travelling to Selhurst Park later today, knowing the fixtures become a lot trickier in December past this trip to face Crystal Palace.
After this away match, it's a tense game with Ruben Amorim's Red Devils back at the Etihad in what could be a hotly contested Manchester Derby, with a tough visit to Aston Villa then on City's agenda.
Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze
Pep Guardiola's topsy-turvy titans will know they will have to keep Eberechi Eze largely quiet to pick up that coveted second consecutive victory, with City's leaky defence in recent games making the captivating attacking midfielder potentially confident.
City's defensive issues
The reigning Premier League champions have shipped the most goals when you look at the top four teams in the standings, with 19 goals leaked across 14 games, which wasn't whatsoever helped by City conceding four in one game to Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham Hotspur.
James Maddison - who plays in a similar way to Eze in attempting to always create openings and entertain the masses watching on - would have a field day against the ropey hosts, firing home two early goals to ensure the three points would return to North London in style.
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This game really exposed City's defensive frailties, with the likes of an ageing Kyle Walker run ragged throughout the entire 90 minutes, with the stuttering side also hurting when John Stones was substituted off at half-time owing to an injury setback.
The most recent 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest did see City pick up a much-needed clean sheet and a win, but their woes defensively - in terms of injuries piling up - came to the forefront once more, as Nathan Ake was hauled off late on with a hamstring concern.
Therefore, Oliver Glasner's Eagles could well be licking their lips at the prospect of facing off against an injury-depleted City back four, but Guardiola will hope this star can keep Palace at bay all match long, after shining bright in the Forest win.
The City defender who could shackle Eze
The defender in question here is Ruben Dias, with the former Benfica man calm and controlled with the ball at his feet in the 3-0 victory, alongside also being an imposing presence when putting his 6 foot 2 frame to effective use.
Dias would only misplace five of his passes on the night from his mammoth 92 touches, alongside also keeping the likes of Chris Wood quiet by throwing himself into many a duel, with the New Zealand international only managing a meagre nine touches consequently.
Dias' numbers vs Forest
Stat
Minutes played
Touches
Accurate passes
Clearances
Tackles
Total duels won
Stats by Sofascore
Guardiola will keep his fingers crossed he can equally stunt the likes of Jean-Phillippe Mateta, therefore, who is another physically challenging striker to contain, alongside also being a tricky striker on the ball when considering his sublime solo strike against Ipswich Town last match.
Away from Mateta, City will also need to shut out Eze supplying chances to the Frenchman, with the Spaniard hopeful that Dias can remain at the peak of his game for this next test, having once labelled the centre-back as "undroppable."
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Eze was far too slick for the Tractor Boys to completely stamp out of the game last time out, registering three shots on the Ipswich net in the 1-0 win, with four key passes also tallied up.
Guardiola will just be praying no such repeats of the sobering Tottenham loss occur, but Dias was absent for that humbling defeat, with his addition into the XI shoring up City versus Forest after he suffered from his own injury-ravaged November.
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Whatever personnel does line up for City amidst some significant selection issues, the passionate 53-year-old will be doing everything in his power to guide his team to two wins on the spin in a bid to brush their bad form firmly to one side.
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