Manchester City are ploughing away at their Premier League title defence, while Crystal Palace have been grafting in the trenches to distance themselves a relegation brawl - perhaps without the points to show for some impressive early season performances.
Pep Guardiola's side sit 11 points ahead of Patrick Vieira's new-look Eagles but City must that wary of the visitor's ability to grind out results against good opposition.
Palace have held Leicester, Arsenal and West Ham to hard-fought draws and beaten Tottenham, while Vieira's men posed a few questions of Liverpool before falling to a 3-0 defeat at Anfield.
While City may be licking their lips ahead of what could be a potentially goal-ridden match at the Etihad Stadium, Guardiola has been warned about the dangers of Palace's not-so-secret weapons in midfield - including a highly rated Chelsea loanee.
In the latest City is Ours Facebook Live, editor Dom Farrell spoke to football.london's Crystal Palace reporter Mark Wyatt to get a deeper understanding of what City fans should look out for ahead of Saturday's 3pm kick-off.
Despite the well-known talents of Wilfried Zaha and a resurgent Christian Benteke, Wyatt kickstarted the discussion by highlighting Conor Gallagher and James McArthur as potentially the Eagles' biggest threats.
MW: "The comparable fixture that Palace can go off is the trip to Anfield. They lost 3-0 but in terms of how they played in that game there was no change in style.
"Vieira wanted his team to go on the front foot and it didn't matter than Liverpool had this counter-attacking threat. But City are a different beast, with how much of the ball you're going to get and how much [Palace] are really going to be able to play their own game.
"One thing Palace do have is this dynamo in midfield of Conor Gallagher and James McArthur, who just seem to run and run. It's a cliche but you talk about engine rooms...
"The game is going to be really interesting in terms of seeing how Manchester City deal with having a lot of the ball but also how wary they are of what Palace can cause.
"In a way, it is quite Roy Hodgson-esque with that counter-attacking threat but Guardiola is going to have to look at this one so differently because, in terms of tactics, this is going to be a really interesting one to watch.
"That midfield battle could tie up the game at some point."
Dom added that the clash shapes up nicely for a title race narrative whereby Gallagher, who is of course on loan from Chelsea, can give his parent club a helping hand.
DF: "If we're look at title race narratives, I think Gallagher, being on loan from Chelsea, could mess things up for City.
"A lot of people have been really impressed with Conor Gallagher. He's a lovely player to watch."
What are your score predictions? Follow the City Is Ours team - Jake Stokes and Dom Farrell - on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
