LONDON —
Manchester City could wrap up a third Premier League title
in four seasons on Sunday, but Manchester United can keep their local rivals
waiting by inflicting further damage on Liverpool's hopes of a return to the
Champions League next season.
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City's 10-point lead with just five games remaining means it
is a matter of when, not if, they will collect the second trophy of a potential
treble.
Pep Guardiola's men lifted the League Cup for the fourth
consecutive season last weekend before taking a huge step towards the Champions
League final with a 2-1 semi-final, first leg win away to Paris Saint-Germain
on Wednesday.
The return leg against PSG is likely to play a big factor in
Guardiola's team selection for Saturday's trip to Crystal Palace.
However, one of the hallmarks of City's success this season
has been their strength in depth, giving Guardiola plenty of options should he
choose to rotate his squad once more.
Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Sergio Aguero, Fernandinho,
Ferran Torres and Aymeric Laporte are among those who did not get off the bench
in Paris in midweek and could start against the Eagles.
Palace have won just once in their last seven games as they
meander towards the end of the season with safety in the top-flight secured for
another season.
United 'expect to win'
Should City move to within three points of the title on
Saturday, all eyes will turn to Old Trafford as last season's champions will
look to clinch them the title.
Liverpool are far more desperate for the points than United
with their chances of Champions League football next season fading fast.
Jurgen Klopp's men are four points adrift of fourth-placed
Chelsea and could be seven behind by the time they kick-off with the Blues
hosting struggling Fulham on Saturday.
United finished 33 points behind Liverpool last season as
the Red Devils only secured a top-four finish on the final day of the season.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men have turned that gap around this
season as they are set to match their best league finish since Alex Ferguson
retired as boss in 2013.
But United captain Harry Maguire insisted they cannot settle
for being second best.
"It's a big game whenever we play Liverpool,"
Maguire told ESPN. "We want to win and we expect to win.
"I joined the club to win trophies, to lift trophies.
Every player who plays for
Manchester United expects to win trophies. In recent
years, we haven't managed to do that, so we've got to improve."
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