Crystal Palace will once again be without key midfielder James McArthur when they take on Manchester City on Monday. The 34-year-old Scotsman made his long-awaited return from injury against Brentford in February but sat out the 2-0 win at Wolves last weekend after picking up another knock. Regardless of the team he selects, Vieira said he knew the challenge that awaited his Palace side against Pep Guardiola’s City, but also knew what the players needed to do to try and get a result.
Patrick Viera said: “The game we had at the Etihad was a good collective game and we’ll need to create this kind of performance again. We’ll have to be solid, work well and it’s about defending well as a team and at the same time creating those moments to create chances and score goals. We know we are capable of doing that. It is the way we work as a team. I think from the front players to the goalkeeper we were really tight and compact and didn’t give City a lot of space. This is a team that manages to score goals and create chances. We’ll have to be at our best and defend well but we have to create chances and it’s important to take them.”
