Manchester City vs Crystal Palace: Maresca’s Early Test at Selhurst Park

Manchester City head to Selhurst Park tonight with the table in their sights and a few early-season questions hanging over them.

Beat Crystal Palace and Enzo Maresca’s side go top. Simple on paper. It feels anything but.

City needed a late surge to turn around Bournemouth at the Etihad on the opening weekend, grinding through gears rather than gliding. Palace, by contrast, limped away from Everton with nothing but frustration, yet they return to south London knowing this is where they’re usually hardest to shift. Selhurst, under the lights, rarely rolls over.

Maresca’s early test

This is still a City under construction. The summer rebuild is not finished, more faces are expected before Tuesday’s deadline, and the new manager is already juggling selection dilemmas after one league game.

Gianluigi Donnarumma keeps his place in goal. That part is clear. Everything in front of him feels more fluid.

City looked vulnerable against Bournemouth, and Maresca’s first defensive experiment may already be shelved. Marc Guehi’s role is likely to change, with the England international expected to move back into his natural position in the heart of the defence to bring some calm and authority.

Ruben Dias should line up alongside him, a more familiar partnership on paper, while Nico O'Reilly is set to drop back to left back after his attacking midfield outing on the opening day. That switch would mean Josko Gvardiol, the late matchwinner last weekend, could be the unlucky casualty despite his decisive contribution.

On the right, the picture is just as intriguing. Rico Lewis wants to anchor the midfield but was exposed defensively at times against Bournemouth. With Maresca admitting Matheus Nunes is “not 100 per cent,” the Portugal international may have to watch on from the bench again. That opens the door for Abdukodir Khusanov to come in at right back and give the back four a more orthodox look.

Midfield reshuffle and Cherki’s reward

The changes don’t stop there. Elliot Anderson is fit and ready to start in midfield, a timely boost for Maresca as he searches for control and tempo. Mateo Kovacic, used only from the bench last weekend, is in line to join him and bring some poise and experience alongside the club’s record signing.

The pressure finally told against Bournemouth when Rayan Cherki entered the fray and flipped the game. His impact should now earn him the keys to the number 10 role from the start, the creative pivot between midfield structure and attacking chaos.

That tweak pushes Phil Foden back out wide, where he operated in Jeremy Doku’s absence on the opening day. Antoine Semenyo is set to patrol the opposite flank, offering direct running and energy, while Erling Haaland leads the line through the middle, as immovable as ever in the team sheet if not yet at full roar in Maresca’s new system.

City arrive with the chance to make it two wins from two and send an early message. Palace, on their own patch, will try to turn that message into a scrap.

This is the kind of night that tells you how ready a work in progress really is.