Man City vs Crystal Palace: Kick-off time, referee, TV channel & team news

Manchester City host Crystal Palace this weekend in the Premier League, with the Blues aiming to continue their impressive start to the campaign.

Last week, City dropped points for the first time this season, drawing 3-3 with Newcastle United, but previously they beat Bournemouth and West Ham United, meaning they’ve earned seven points from the opening three matches.

The Premier League champions were also in action in midweek, when they travelled to Barcelona for a friendly match at the Nou Camp.

City drew 3-3 with Barca, but it could prove to be a costly performance given the team potentially picked up two further injuries.

As for Palace, they started the new season with a loss to Arsenal, and followed it up with a draw against Liverpool. But Patrick Vieira’s men were much more impressive last week and comfortably beat Aston Villa 3-1 at Selhurst Park.

The Eagles have established themselves as a tricky Premier League opponent, with lively attacking players such as Wilfried Zaha and Eberechi Eze.

Palace have also caused Pep Guardiola some issues during his time in England, particularly last season when City failed to beat the London club in either attempt. Palace also won this fixture last time out, beating the Blues 2-0 at the Etihad.

Ahead of this year’s meeting, we take a look at all the key pre-match information…

When is Man City vs Palace?

The game kicks off at 3pm on Saturday 27 August.

Is Man City vs Palace on TV?

As with all 3pm starts in England, it will not be shown live on TV in the UK.

Who is referee for Man City vs Palace?

Graham Scott will take charge of the game. The official also refereed this fixture in 2020, when the sides drew 2-2, with Sergio Aguero netting a brace.

Scott’s assistants will be Harry Lennard and  Adrian Holmes, while the fourth official will be Darren Bond. From their Stockley Park base, Simon Hooper and Steve Meredith will oversee VAR.

Team news

City will hope for more encouraging news on Jack Grealish after he missed the draw with Newcastle last week through injury, while he also sat out the friendly with Barcelona.

“He had an incredible blow in the last game against Bournemouth in the last minutes,” Pep Guardiola said last Sunday. “We’re lucky it was just a little, little, little damage to his ligament, but not much. He feels better, but not ready for today.”

Kalvin Phillips and Luke Mbete both went off injured in midweek, with the severity of problems not yet known.

The latter’s absence could be a big blow, especially given City are struggling for numbers in defence. Nathan Ake is not expected to be fit for the clash with Palace after he sustained a groin injury at St James’ Park, which forced him to sit out the friendly with Barcelona. Aymeric Laporte is still missing with a knee injury.

As for Palace, Jack Butland, Nathan Ferguson, James Tomkins and James McArthur are all expected to miss out through injury.