Manuel Pellegrini must ensure that his boys navigate to a win against Crystal Palace on Monday night

Manchester City face a must win game against Crystal Palace on Monday night after they saw second place slip right out of their hands even before they kicked a ball this week. Arsenal’s victory over Liverpool saw the Gunners leapfrog the Citizens and lay claim to second place while United’s victory over Aston Villa later on in the day ensured that our cross town rivals also pulled off the same feat as the Gunners as they quickly displaced us from our new found home, third place in the League. So, as things stand right now, we occupy fourth place in the Premier League table which is also the final spot for Champions League qualification.

The Chilean manager is already feeling the heat after seeing his side drop out of the title race

I clearly remember that I had made this prediction in one of my latest articles for this website. Maybe in my last article or possibly the one prior to that I mentioned that I would not be surprised if Manchester City were left scrapping it out with United or Liverpool for the fourth and final Champions League spot and where do we find ourselves right now? Save the applause for later chaps for what we need to concentrate on right now is not my fortune telling abilities but rather the fortune of our beloved Manchester City. Right now, we are two points off second place with a game in hand over both Arsenal and United and this game in hand is one opportunity that we simply cannot let slip. Manuel Pellegrini needs to hope and pray that City manage to get a win over Alan Pardew’s men because in case they are not able to fetch maximum points from this one game, the results could just be disastrous. Pardew’s boys are in a good run of form after he navigated his team to nine points from a possible 12 from their last four matches. That one loss that they succumbed to came at the hands of high flying Southampton. Palace winger Dwight Gayle is also having the time of his life after finding the back of the net a total of 10 times this season.

City fans better hope that Wilfried Bony and David Silva are in top form for their game against Palace

So, as you can very well see, Monday night will in no way be an easy affair for Vincent Kompany and Co. City do not have much form to carry into the game although they did win their last Premier League match, which was against West Bromwich Albion. Wilfried Bony got his first goal for City and he is once again expected to lead the line against Crystal Palace. The Ivorian will also need David Silva, his playmaker to keep up his good run of form after he got on the scoresheet as well against West Brom. Overall, no matter what may happen in Selhurst Park on Monday night, City need to make sure that they get a win. No matter what happens, a win and a swift return to second place in the League is expected from Pellergrini and his boys and just in case that fail to achieve it, they will really start to feel the heat.