Pep Guardiola reveals why Jack Grealish will be left out of Manchester City’s lineup against Crystal Palace

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has explained in detail why Jack Grealish was left on the bench against Crystal Palace this afternoon.

The decision to leave the England international out of the starting lineup at Selhurst Park comes as a result of an impressive performance against Nottingham Forest in midweek, when Grealish played a central midfield role.

The introduction of Grealish among the substitutes is one of four changes Pep Guardiola has made to his Manchester City line-up against Crystal Palace as the champions look to make it two wins in a row in every competition since mid-to-late October.

Kyle Walker, Rico Lewis, Savinho and Matheus Nunes join the City squad in London, while Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake are both out through injury, while Grealish and Jeremy Doku move to the bench.

However, when Pep Guardiola was questioned about the decision to leave Jack Grealish out of his squad despite his performance at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night, he suggested it was a fitness decision.

“Energy. Fresh energy. Jack (Grealish) had some problems yesterday (Friday),” Guardiola said ahead of the contest at Selhurst Park. The Manchester City manager continued: “Jeremy (Doku) came in after three or four weeks with one Muscle injury back.

“Three days (after the game against Nottingham Forest) the risk was too great. Fresh legs, energy and off we go,” he said.

Guardiola also wanted to get back to winning ways against Nuno Espírito Santo’s team and emphasized that the victory was now “a thing of the past”. “The same as when we lost, we forget about it,” he said. “It’s not the end of the season yet and there are still many games to play.”

This is a developing story. More to follow.