Soccer

Manchester City vs. Crystal Palace 2017 live stream: Time, TV channel, and how to watch online

Manchester City need to keep racking up wins to make sure they stay in the top four.

May 6, 2017, 11:02 AM UTC

Crystal Palace v Manchester City - The Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round

Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

With the season quickly winding down, both Manchester City and Crystal Palace are in a bad need to keep securing as many points as they can. City have just a one-point lead on their cross-town rivals, Manchester United, in their efforts to stay in the top four of the Premier League, and Palace’s recent dip in form means that they’re not completely safe from relegation just yet.

That means when the two sides square off at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, there’s a surprising amount on the line for both teams, considering the time of year. Usually City would have the top four all but locked up by now, and Palace would at least be safe, but unusually tight races at both ends of the table have left everything thrown wide open. Manchester City have four matches left to go and Crystal Palace three, and right now neither side can afford to drop points right now.

Of course, the consequences for Palace failing to achieve their goals would be much harsher — they have just a six-point cushion over Swansea City in the final relegation spot, which while it should be safe, is far from guaranteed. Swansea’s form is starting to turn around a little bit, and with Palace swooning with two straight losses, their position looks much shakier than it did a couple of weeks ago. One more win would leave them safe, though, so expect Sam Allardyce’s team to come out swinging in desperate hope of that win.

Crystal Palace are one of the most injured teams in the Premier League right now, with Mamadou Sakho, Yohan Cabaye, James Tomkins, Scott Dann, Conor Wickham, and Pape Souare all out, plus Andros Townsend far from guaranteed to be fit enough to play. The absences of Sakho, Tomkins, Dann, and Souare represent a huge portion of their defensive depth, which will be tough to deal with against Manchester City. For their part, City are dealing with a few major injuries, as well — Sergio Aguero is a near-certainty to miss out, and John Stones, Claudio Bravo, and Ilkay Gundogan are out. David Silva might be available, but he won’t be at 100 percent if he does play.