Watch Man City vs Crystal Palace live striming as the Citizens look to catch up to Arsenal when they host the Eagles on January 16, 2016.
Manuel Pellegrini will most likely look back at the midweek Premier League fixtures as a missed opportunity for his side in the title race.
With Arsenal dropping points and Tottenham Hotspur losing, victory for City would have seen them move above the Gunners on goal difference and be just one point off the top of the table.
However, they could only manage a goalless draw against an Everton side who they were beaten by just a week before in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final.
Considering the attacking form of both teams heading into the match, coupled with the questionable defensive records, a 0-0 seemed unlikely, but Tim Howard kept the hosts at bay for Everton, who themselves came within the width of the post of scoring.
The result was City’s first draw at the Etihad in any competition since February of last year and brought an end to their five-match winning streak in front of their own fans.
However, their home record is still a formidable one. They have won 15 of their last 18 league games at the Etihad and unsurprisingly have the best home record in the division this season, picking up 25 points and scoring a league-high 29 goals on home soil.
Wednesday’s draw with the Toffees was the first time that City have failed to score in a home league game for just under a year, though, and should they draw another blank this weekend then it would be two in a row for the first time since November 2010.
Pellegrini cannot afford his side to drop off at home due to their questionable away form, which is the main reason behind the level of inconsistency that has seen them fail to win consecutive league games since the opening two matches of October.
They have won only five of 12 games since then which, while just about keeping them in the title race, is unlikely to be good enough for them to overtake Arsenal and Leicester any time soon.
Perhaps even more concerning than that, though, is the fact that, since their 1-0 win in the reverse meeting with Palace in September, City have only picked up six points from the 27 available to them against teams in the top 11 of the table. With West Ham, Leicester and Tottenham to come in three of their next four games after Palace, that is a record that needs to improve.
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