John Stones shines vs Crystal Palace

Manchester City were in Premier League action on Sunday evening.

Following Man United’s draw with Liverpool earlier in the day, their meeting with the Eagles represented a huge chance for the Citizens to put their mark on this season’s title race.

A win over Palace, followed by a 3-point haul vs Aston Villa (City’s game in hand), would guide the Sky Blues to the top of the Premier League table for the first time this season.

And, following Sunday’s clash, Pep Guardiola’s side are now halfway towards achieving that goal. This comes with the Manchester giants having demolished Roy Hodgson’s Palace by four goals to nil.

Two of their goals 24 hours ago came courtesy of John Stones, who has been in simply remarkable form of late. Speaking on the back of his latest fine display, meanwhile, the stopper had the following to say:

“Two goals for myself and obviously I’m delighted! I put a lot of pressure on myself to score goals. I need to contribute and bring that to my game. I’ve been trying hard and the hard work on the training pitch are paying off. I’m glad to contribute.”

“Two goals for myself and obviously I’m delighted! I put a lot of pressure on myself to score goals. I need to contribute and bring that to my game. I’ve been trying hard and the hard work on the training pitch are paying off. I’m glad to contribute.”

🔷 #ManCity pic.twitter.com/bVMTxbd32Y

— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 17, 2021

Stones to be rewarded by Southgate

Sunday’s outing marked Stones’ eighth start in Man City’s last nine in the Premier League.

In those eight games, City have conceded just a solitary goal, with Stones and summer signing Ruben Dias having formed a formidable partnership, confining Aymeric Laporte to the bench.

And now, amid his recent spell of sensational form, Stones looks set to be handed a recall to the England squad by Gareth Southgate.

Stones hasn’t featured for the Three Lions for over a year now, but, as per the Telegraph, Southgate is expected to call up the City centre-back for England’s March fixtures:

John Stones last played for England in November 2019 but looks likely to return to the international fold for upcoming games / @TelegraphDucker https://t.co/yE3wwCG2Me

— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) January 18, 2021

See also: Arsenal vs Newcastle United betting tips: Premier League preview, predictions & odds

Arsenal vs Newcastle United live streaming: Watch Premier League online

This article was edited by
Conor Laird.

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Premier League table

#	Team	MP	D	P
1	Manchester United FC	18	10	37
2	Manchester City FC	17	16	35
3	Leicester City FC	18	12	35
4	Liverpool FC	18	16	34
5	Tottenham Hotspur FC	18	16	33
6	Everton FC	17	7	32
7	Chelsea FC	18	12	29
8	Southampton FC	18	5	29
9	West Ham United FC	18	4	29
10	Aston Villa FC	15	13	26
11	Arsenal FC	18	1	24
12	Leeds United	18	-4	23
13	Crystal Palace FC	19	-11	23
14	Wolverhampton Wanderers FC	19	-8	22
15	Newcastle United FC	17	-9	19
16	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	19	-7	17
17	Burnley FC	17	-13	16
18	Fulham FC	17	-11	12
19	West Bromwich Albion	18	-27	11
20	Sheffield United FC	19	-22	5

Player	Team	Goals
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	13
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur FC	12
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur FC	12
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United FC	11
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City FC	11
Calvert-Lewin, Dominic	Everton FC	11
Bamford, Patrick	Leeds United	10
Zaha, Wilfried	Crystal Palace FC	8
Wilson, Callum	Newcastle United FC	8
Rashford, Marcus	Manchester United FC	7
Ings, Danny	Southampton FC	7
Maupay, Neal	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	7
Lacazette, Alexandre	Arsenal FC	7
Mane, Sadio	Liverpool FC	6
Watkins, Ollie	Aston Villa FC	6
Abraham, Tammy	Chelsea FC	6
Barnes, Harvey	Leicester City FC	6
Grealish, Jack	Aston Villa FC	5
Sterling, Raheem	Manchester City FC	5
Firmino, Roberto	Liverpool FC	5

Player	Team	Red Cards	Yellow Cards
Bellerin, Hector	Arsenal FC	0	6
Bissouma, Yves	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	1	5
Egan, John	Sheffield United FC	1	5
Hayden, Isaac	Newcastle United FC	0	6
Reid, Bobby	Fulham FC	0	5
Doucoure, Abdoulaye	Everton FC	0	5
Romeu, Oriol	Southampton FC	0	5
Dunk, Lewis	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	1	4
Phillips, Kalvin	Leeds United	0	5
Cash, Matty	Aston Villa FC	0	5
Gallagher, Conor	West Bromwich Albion	0	5
Evans, Jonny	Leicester City FC	0	5
Lundstram, John	Sheffield United FC	1	4
Kante, N`Golo	Chelsea FC	0	5
Milivojevic, Luka	Crystal Palace FC	1	4
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United FC	0	4
Grealish, Jack	Aston Villa FC	0	4
Ward-Prowse, James	Southampton FC	0	4
Tielemans, Youri	Leicester City FC	0	4
Klich, Mateusz	Leeds United	0	4

Player	Team	Assists
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur FC	11
De Bruyne, Kevin	Manchester City FC	9
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United FC	7
Grealish, Jack	Aston Villa FC	7
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur FC	6
Rashford, Marcus	Manchester United FC	5
Robertson, Andrew	Liverpool FC	5
Digne, Lucas	Everton FC	5
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City FC	4
Ward-Prowse, James	Southampton FC	4
Werner, Timo	Chelsea FC	4
Adams, Che	Southampton FC	4
Harrison, Jack	Leeds United	4
Chilwell, Benjamin	Chelsea FC	4
McGinn, John	Aston Villa FC	4
Cresswell, Aaron	West Ham United FC	4
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	3
Ings, Danny	Southampton FC	3
Sterling, Raheem	Manchester City FC	3
Firmino, Roberto	Liverpool FC	3