MANCHESTER, England (AP) – Manchester City manager Josep Guardiola expects Crystal Palace to be “professional” in their squad selection to face Arsenal on the final day of the Premier League season, which could decide where the title goes.
The game at Selhurst Park on May 24th comes three days before Palace face Rayo Vallecano. conference league finalsThat leaves the possibility that Palace manager Oliver Glasner will rest key players ahead of one of the biggest games in the club’s 121-year history.
2nd place city They are five points behind Arsenal in the Premier League and coincidentally play Palace on Wednesday.
City will need Arsenal to drop points against Palace to win the title. That’s because leaders Arsenal are favorites to win their remaining game, at home to relegated Burnley on Monday.
Asked on Tuesday whether he feared Palace would face a weakened team, Guardiola said: “They are a very professional team. Crystal Palace will play us at the top. Yesterday’s game against Leeds and Spurs saw them get out of the relegation battle and see how they fare in the Premier League again.
“We’ve played Aston Villa and West Ham here in the past but (they) didn’t have anything to do and we’ve seen how difficult it is, so I’m sure (Palace) will do their best.”
West Ham’s controversial defeat against Arsenal On Sunday, it became certain that Palace would not be relegated.
Glasner said it was “nonsense” to criticize him for fielding a weakened line-up against Arsenal after beating Shakhtar Donetsk last week to reach the Conference League final.
“I don’t blame Arsenal, I don’t blame Manchester City, I blame Crystal Palace,” he said.
“Again, we don’t know what we’re doing yet. Maybe we’ll play with the same squad as we played against Vallecano… It might feel like the league title will be decided on the last day. But in the end it’s the result of 38 games and everyone gets what they deserve.”
___
AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
