Manchester City Visit Crystal Palace: The New Manager Needs to Prove Himself, and Haaland Should Open His Account

The biggest talking point in this match is not just whether Manchester City can make it two wins in a row, but also whether Maresca can continue to make a strong start to Manchester City's new era.
After Guardiola's departure, Manchester City entered a brand-new cycle. Maresca experienced an emotional roller coaster in his very first Premier League match: the team conceded first, then completed a comeback, and ultimately defeated Bournemouth 2-1 through Gvardiol's stoppage-time winner to take all three points.
That was certainly an impressive start, but it also exposed some problems.
Manchester City have not yet reached their most stable form, and their defense occasionally gives opponents opportunities. Although Crystal Palace lost 0-2 to Everton in the opening round, they also created plenty of chances during the match. If they can take those chances this time, Manchester City's goal will not be absolutely safe.
Haaland is even more worth watching.
The Norwegian striker did not score in the opening round, although he was still one of Manchester City's most important finishers last season. For a goal machine, one match without scoring may just be a warm-up, but going two matches without a goal will start to make fans rub their hands in anticipation.
That is why I actually believe Haaland's desire to score will be extremely strong in this match.
If Crystal Palace focus all their defensive attention on Haaland, they could easily leave space for players such as Foden and Semenyo. This is a very difficult choice for the home side.
Historically, Manchester City also have a clear advantage, with their most recent meeting ending in a 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
So my final prediction still favors the away side.
Predicted score: Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester City.
I do not expect Manchester City to win by a large margin, because the new manager's system is still being refined, and playing away from home brings some uncertainty.
But if Manchester City score first, the rhythm of the match will clearly swing toward the visitors.
So the keywords for this match are:
Crystal Palace fighting for resilience, Manchester City fighting for efficiency, and Haaland fighting for goals.
For the final three points, I favor Manchester City.
After all, this new coach has already won his first match.
Surely he cannot start calling Pep after just the second match to ask for the operating instructions? #五大联赛赛前预测官