A worrying stat for Palace: Mateta and Sarr, two absentees tonight, scored 21 Premier League goals between them last season. Tonight’s starting XI for Palace against scored … 10 between them last season.

City might be Pep-less – which still feels weird – but they do still look formidable. Nobody won possession more times than Elliot Anderson last season (306 times). Nobody provided more assists per 90 minutes than Rayan Cherki. Both players start tonight.

Let’s dissect those teams a little.

Palace line-up in that familiar 3-4-2-1 formation, although that front three is fluid. For all Palace’s problems at centre-back, Tomiyasu, Richards and Canvot (the latter really impressed me last season) are more than dependable and Axel Disasi is on the bench.

No Ismaïla Sarr in the squad, with the Senegalese linked with Liverpool. What a disappointment that he is not playing. No Jean-Philippe Mateta, he is apparently injured, although it is well known he is trying to leave Palace. Interesting that Daniel Muñoz, reportedly subject of a £22m bid from Nottingham Forest this week, is on the bench. New £21m signing from Union Saint-Gilloise, Anan Khalaili, starts at right-wing back. At least Adam Wharton is there, Palace fans!

As mentioned, Marc Guéhi continues in defensive midfield for City, alongside Elliot Anderson. Rayan Cherki starts after his impressive cameo off the bench against Bournemouth. Ayyoub Bouaddi is on the bench but there is no Jack Grealish, which surely means that he is off: Everton and Sunderland are potential destinations.

Enzo Maresca, Manchester City manager, has been speaking to Sky about his continued use of Marc Guéhi in midfield.

After the Arsenal game [in the Community Shield], we struggled a bit in the middle of the field. This is a league where you need strong midfielders. Marc can do this job. On the ball, he is strong, off the ball he is defensively strong, he gives balance to the team. It’s good to be versatile. Bouaddi is an unbelievable player but he is 18, he is young, from France, he needs time.

Ideally we will have two players for every position. Hopefully we can get one more in, or two in. Also maybe one or two out.

That Palace’s Holmesdale Fanatics fan group are “stopping all organised activity” at Selhurst Park is particularly sad.

Here are some of the finest tifos by the Holmesdale Fanatics over the years.

Below is a tifo in memory of Maxi Jazz in May 2023, unveiled alongside Faithless lyrics from God Is a DJ that read “This is our church. This is where we heal our hurts”. Maxi died in December 2022. He was a West Norwood resident, a Palace supporter and in September 2012 he became an associate director of the club.

Below: a tifo before the Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano in May.

Below: a tifo showing Joel Ward lifting the FA Cup in August 2025, a few months after the 1-0 win over Manchester City at Wembley.

Below: a 2022 tifo depicting the Crystal Palace, built for the Great Exhibition in 1851.

Below: a tifo display celebrating 100 years of Selhurst Park, in September 2024.

Below: a tifo, at the 2025 FA Cup final, depicts three Palace supporters – father Mark Wealleans and sons Nathan and Dominic – who were once seen at Old Trafford in 2011 celebrating Darren Ambrose’s sensational strike against Manchester United. After Mark died of cancer in 2017, the image became a symbol of lost loved ones for Palace fans. Nathan and Dominic were in the crowd at Wembley in 2025 and were unaware that the tifo was planned until they saw the image of themselves and their late father with their own eyes.

“I had no idea it was going to be us,” Nathan later admitted. “I thought it was going to be something to do with a player retiring this season. Then out of nowhere someone told us and then we broke down in tears as soon as we saw. It was special, it shows there’s still a real love for not just my dad, but all the loved ones who love Palace and didn’t get to see it. All of them now know we’re on the next step.”

On Thursday, the Holmesdale Fanatics released the following statement, explaining their reasons for ceasing operations:

Increasingly driven out by the sky high ticket prices, needless restrictions that are designed to strip away the dignity of supporters and relentless harassment and legal action, many young people are choosing to opt out of a game which seems determined to push them away.

We have repeatedly warned the club that likeminded fans cannot congregate at Palace in the numbers required to sustain a growing active supporter culture. The conditions are simply not there. There needs to be a drastic shift at Palace towards younger fans and a move away from a culture in which people attend the ground expecting to be entertained, towards a culture of supporters turning up to play an active role in influencing the result.

The story away from home is even more dire. In domestic away fixtures, supporters are banned from bringing materials into stadiums, coaches are regularly stopped, and fans are arrested. Away ends across the country are increasingly dominated by older fans, with the next generation failing to come through in significant numbers.

Given these conditions, we have immense pride in all the group has achieved over the past 20 years. From being at the heart of the protests that rescued the club in 2010, to securing the away ticket price cap that has saved working class people millions and supporting the club through a record breaking period, the Holmesdale Fanatics has helped write a chapter in the club’s history that many did not believe was possible.

But now is the time for us to recognise we have taken the Holmesdale Fanatics as far as it can go in the current climate. We are therefore choosing to stop all organised activity as the Holmesdale Fanatics inside the stadium. We do not take this decision lightly.