Monday 6 April 2015 12:48, UK
Ahead of the Monday Night Football clash between Crystal Palace and Manchester City, we look at the stats surrounding the key talking points ahead of kick-off...
Man City slipping behind Chelsea
Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Stoke on Saturday moved Jose Mourinho’s men nine points clear of Premier League title holders Manchester City. That’s the most City have trailed Chelsea by all season.
To compound matters for Manuel Pellegrini, victories for Arsenal and Manchester United over the weekend mean City go into their Monday Night Football clash with Crystal Palace in fourth place – the lowest they’ve been in the second half of a Premier League season since May 2011.
That season – Roberto Mancini’s first full campaign in charge – was also the last time City finished outside the top two. Pellegrini will be desperate to avoid a repeat.
The Chilean has tasked his City players with the challenge of winning their eight remaining games to keep their championship hopes alive. But even that feat would only see them finish the campaign on 85 points, fewer than they managed in either title-winning term (11/12: 89 and 13/14: 86). Plus they would need the Blues to drop four points in their final eight games to pull off a remarkable turnaround.
Pardew manager of season?
While Pellegrini is enduring a tough time, Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew is enjoying a fine start to life in charge of the Selhurst Park outfit – and is building a strong case for manager of the season.
The former Newcastle boss, who joined the Eagles in January, has steered the club from 18th in the table and a point from safety to (prior to this weekend's fixtures) 11th and 11 points from the danger zone.
Pardew has 19 points from his ten Premier League games in charge – Man City have managed just 15 in that time. In fact, ahead of this weekend, only Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea had gathered more points than Palace since Pardew was appointed.
Last season Tony Pulis was awarded the manager of the season award after steering Palace to safety. However, after Pulis took charge in November 2013, it took him three more games to amass the number of points Pardew has, while Pardew currently out-performs Pulis in win percentage (60 v 42) and points-per-game (1.9 v 1.5).
Murray the danger man?
Victory over Man City on Monday night would further highlight the good work Pardew is doing in south London and Glenn Murray could be the man to do the damage.
The striker spent the first half of the season on loan at Reading but since returning to Selhurst Park in January he has scored four in four in the Premier League and Palace have won all four games he’s started.
Murray’s haul gives him the best goals-per-minute ratio in the Premier League (he scores every 91 minutes on average), while only City’s Sergio Aguero shoots more frequently (20.8 minutes-per-shot v 21.4 minutes-per-shot).
Set-piece threat
Given that tonight is a meeting between teams with the highest and lowest possession averages in the Premier League this season, Palace, who typically see just 39 per cent of the ball, will undoubtedly look to set-pieces as a way to upset City (who average 61 per cent of possession).
Palace have scored 13 Premier League goals from set-pieces this season and only Tottenham (14) topped that total ahead of the weekend’s fixtures.
Scott Dann and Brede Hangeland both have two goals apiece and the two centre-backs will be the targets for free-kicks and corners this evening.
Tough place to go?
Despite Manchester City failing to win on any of their four visits to London this season and Selhurst Park’s reputation as a tough place to go, there are plenty of reasons for optimism for the traveling fans.
Palace have suffered the joint-most defeats on their own patch this season (seven) and the lowest proportion of points won at home (42 per cent) of any Premier League team. Only Leicester (14) and Aston Villa (14) have won fewer points from home fixtures.
Pardew’s men won last time out at Selhurst against QPR, but haven’t won back-to-back fixtures at home since April 2014, while only four teams (all in the bottom six) have scored fewer Premier League goals at home.
Palace have struggled against the top teams this season, too, losing all five meetings against the top four, while City have won all three meetings with tonight’s hosts since the Eagles returned to the Premier League in 2013.
Watch Crystal Palace v Manchester City on Monday Night Football live from 7.30pm on Sky Sports 1 HD
