Premier League PREVIEW 28 Aug 2026: Marc Guehi goes back to Selhurst Park, in the other shirt

Crystal Palace against Manchester City on Friday night is the first meeting since Marc Guehi crossed between them. He left Palace for City in January 2026 having made 188 appearances and captained the side in 101 of them, and Selhurst Park has not had him back since. It is also the first time the two clubs meet under new management at both ends: Pierre Sage took the Palace job on 15 June 2026 after Oliver Glasner's contract expired on the day of the Conference League final, and Enzo Maresca was appointed at City on 29 June, succeeding Pep Guardiola after ten years.

Palace come in short of defenders and short of a result. Chadi Riad twisted his left knee against Everton and was stretchered off, and Ismaila Sarr is still training on his own with a groin problem. "He's always in individual session because he's really in pain with his groin," Sage said. Dean Henderson is a doubt with an ankle problem. Without Sarr, the shape reported in the build-up puts Dwight McNeil and Eddie Nketiah in support of Jean-Philippe Mateta. Palace lost their opening match 2-0 at Everton, to goals from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry.

City arrive having won 2-1 at Bournemouth in Maresca's first league match in charge, and with one absence that matters: Jeremy Doku aggravated a calf problem in the Community Shield defeat to Arsenal and has been ruled out for two to three weeks, with a return pencilled in for the Manchester derby on 13 September. Elliot Anderson took a knock at Bournemouth and was withdrawn as a precaution, though Maresca indicated it was nothing serious and expects him available. There are no suspensions. Phil Foden, Nico O'Reilly and Antoine Semenyo are the attacking unit reported most likely.

Sage was asked in the build-up what separates the manager he faces from the one City had for a decade, and was careful about it: "the psychology of these two managers are, it's not the same because they are different, but they are still similar." The recent history between the clubs favours the visitors heavily. City won both meetings last season, 3-0 at Selhurst Park in December 2025 and 3-0 at the Etihad in May 2026, the second of those Palace's heaviest defeat of the campaign. Both sides arrive with recent silverware, which is what makes the gap between them awkward to state: Palace won the FA Cup in 2025, the Community Shield that followed it and the Conference League in May 2026, all three under Glasner and all inside thirteen months, while City took both domestic cups last season, the League Cup 2-0 against Arsenal on 22 March 2026 and the FA Cup 1-0 against Chelsea on 16 May 2026.