Manchester City Aim for Top Spot Against Crystal Palace

Manchester City head to Selhurst Park tonight with the table in their sights and questions still hanging over their new era under Enzo Maresca.

Beat Crystal Palace and they go top. Slip, and the early-season jitters around this remodelled side will grow a little louder.

Maresca’s City still taking shape

City needed a late surge to see off Bournemouth on the opening day at the Etihad, a comeback that showed character but also underlined how much work remains for Maresca. Palace, beaten at Everton, return to south London knowing they are a very different proposition on their own patch.

Selhurst Park has a habit of unsettling visiting heavyweights. Palace are awkward, aggressive, and rarely roll over. For a City team still trying to find its rhythm, this is not a gentle second act.

Maresca also walks into it with selection puzzles everywhere.

Defensive rethink on the cards

Gianluigi Donnarumma keeps his place in goal, but the back line is unlikely to look the same as it did against Bournemouth. City looked loose, unsure, and the experiment with Marc Guehi out of position may be cut short.

The England defender is expected to move back into the centre of defence to restore some order, with Ruben Dias alongside him in what feels like a more orthodox pairing. That shift could trigger another: Nico O'Reilly, used in an advanced role last weekend, is a candidate to drop in at left back.

If that happens, Josko Gvardiol – the matchwinner on the opening day – may find himself the odd man out. It would be a ruthless call, but Maresca has already shown he is not afraid to shuffle big names if the structure doesn’t look right.

On the opposite flank, the debate is just as lively. Rico Lewis wants to play in midfield and his ambition is clear, but he endured a difficult time defensively against Bournemouth. With Matheus Nunes still short of full fitness – Maresca has already admitted the Portugal international is “not 100 per cent” – the door opens for Abdukodir Khusanov to come in at right back and add a more natural defensive presence.

Midfield tweaks and a reward for Cherki

The midfield picture is a little clearer. Elliot Anderson is available to start and offers energy and control in the middle of the pitch. Mateo Kovacic, who began on the bench last weekend, is pushing to come in alongside the record signing and bring some composure to City’s build-up.

Higher up the pitch, one decision almost picks itself. Rayan Cherki came off the bench to transform the Bournemouth game, injecting creativity and urgency into a previously flat performance. That impact should earn him the start in the number 10 role, the kind of central, influential position where he can dictate the tempo.

With Cherki through the middle, Phil Foden is likely to stay out wide again. Jeremy Doku remains absent, so Foden’s craft from the flank becomes even more important. On the opposite side, Antoine Semenyo offers direct running and aggression, a useful foil for the man waiting in the middle.

Erling Haaland, of course, leads the line. The structure around him may be shifting, the system still bedding in, but the target is the same: get the ball to the Norwegian and let him finish the job.

City arrive in south London with the chance to climb to the summit and send an early message. The question is whether this still-forming version of Maresca’s side can impose itself on one of the league’s most unforgiving away days.