Crystal Palace are in a freefall.Alan Pardews Eagles (3-2-6) are without a win in five straight Premier League matches and minus a point in four -- a run that has sent them plummeting down the table to within just one point of the bottom three.Though it likely wont be easy, Palace hope to stop the bleeding Saturday against Manchester City at Selhurst Park.Pardews side has conceded a combined 10 goals in just three games prior to the recent international break. What Palace need now is an easy game to get his side back up and running. What he gets instead is a visit from a title favourite.Pep Guardiolas City (7-3-1) have lost just three times over 19 overall competitions. In league play, theyve scored 25 goals (only two clubs have more) and conceded just 10 (which only two clubs can improve on). But despite their apparent dominance, City will arrive in south London desperate for a victory after a run of results that saw them win just once in their last five (1-3-1) league matches.Guardiolas star-studded side are therefore expected to be firing on all cylinders against one of the leakiest defences in the division. One player in particular is looking forward to visiting Palace again.Crystal Palace will always be a special game for me because I scored my first goal against them and if I play on Saturday, I hope to score another against them, City striker Kelechi Iheanacho said. But they are very strong and have very good wingers so they will believe they can win this game. We have to be careful, respect them and expect this to be a very difficult match.Ihenacho has a point, for in the final game before the international break Palace almost produced an impressive comeback, recovering from two goals down against Burnley… only to miss a penalty and concede a third to lose 3-2.It was a harsh result to take, but not one that has shaken striker Christian Benteke (who missed the key penalty) off his stride.The Premier League is the strongest league in the world, anything can happen in games and we have seen that again (against Burnley) but we need to work hard and for the players the only way is to carry on and keep fighting to turn things around, he said.Benteke could be one of the main threats against City, with his aerial ability likely to be Palaces main attacking ploy against a team whose defence and goalkeeper are not at their strongest when dealing with crosses into the box.There will be little in the way of an attacking plan b for Palace however, with forwards Loic Remy and Bacary Sako both expected to be unavailable. Goalkeeper Steve Mandanda is also an injury concern for the hosts.City must deal with injury problems of their own. Fabian Delph has been ruled out and Vincent Kompany, Bacary Sagna and Fernando all doubts. Striker Sergio Aguero traveled back from South America late in the week, but did not feature in Argentinas midweek 3-0 win over Colombia so he should be fit to start.Palace have lost seven of their last eight league meetings with City, and failed to score in five of the last six encounters. New Balance Clearance Australia . "Hes going to have hip surgery on Jan. 7, and hell be expected to rehabilitate for four to six months beyond that," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said Friday in an interview. Cheap New Balance Shoes Online Australia . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. http://www.cheapaustralianewbalance.com/ . Its 1987 and a Brazilian playmaker, known as Mirandinha, is being paraded around St James Park to the passionate Newcastle fans. New Balance Clearance Outlet Australia . -- Stanford squashed Oregons national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. Cheap New Balance Shoes Australia . The Cincinnati Reds remain perfect with their speedy rookie outfielder in the starting lineup. Well find out a lot more about where things stand in the race for the College Football Playoff when the official rankings come out next week. Leading up to the big reveal, our college football experts narrowed the field to the 10 teams with the best shot at the national title.Heres a look at Alabamas title chances; to vote for who you think will win it all, go to our poll page or scroll to the bottom of this feature:The case for AlabamaAlabama ranks No. 1 in FPI, strength of record and game control metrics.An average Top 25 team would have had a 2 percent chance of getting Alabamas 8-0 record.The Crimson Tide have won seven of their eight games by at least 19 points, outscoring their opponents 100-23 in the third quarter.Alabamas defense has +21 EPA per game (expected points added), meaning the defense is adding about 21 points to the final score margin. That is the highest defensive EPA for any team this far into the season in the past decade.-- ESPN Stats & InfoThe case against AlabamaOne way that opponents have had moderate success against Alabama is on deep balls this season. The Tide have allowed 11 receptions on throws that traveled at least 25 yards downfield, tied for the fifth-most in the Power 5. And Alabama just lost starting safety Eddie Jackson for the season.-- ESPN Stats & InfoTalking pointsVegas odds: Alabama leads the pack with 8-5 odds to win the national title, according to Westgate SuperBook.What FPI says: According to ESPNs Football Power Index, the Crimson Tide have a 41.1 percent chance of winning out through the regular season and conference title game, the sixth-highest percentage in the nation, and a 67.7 percent chance of winning the SEC. Their remaining schedule -- which includes a road game against No.dddddddddddd. 19 LSU and a home game versus No. 15 Auburn in the annual Iron Bowl -- ranks as the 28th-most difficult.ESPN Senior Writer Mark Schlabach: I cant picture the Crimson Tide losing, at least not during the regular season. ... Alabamas defense and special teams mask its offenses mistakes. Whenever QB Jalen Hurts looks like a freshman who is only months removed from high school, the Crimson Tide do something on defense or special teams to make up for it.Alabama had five sacks and 11 tackles for loss against Texas A&M. Opponents cant run between the tackles against college footballs most formidable front, and there arent many who can throw over the top of the Crimson Tide defense, either.But Alabama might not roll over resurgent LSU and Auburn like we once thought it would. No. 25 LSU improved to 3-0 under interim coach Ed Orgeron with a 38-21 win over Ole Miss, and No. 21 Auburn crushed No. 17 Arkansas 56-3 for its fifth straight victory by running for 543 yards, a school record in SEC games.ESPN analytics writer Sharon Katz: There are six teams -- Michigan, Louisville, Ohio State, Clemson, Washington and Auburn -- that FPI would currently give at least a 25 percent chance to beat Alabama in a potential national championship game. Michigan is the most likely to take down the defending champs (47 percent likely), followed by Louisville (42 percent) and Ohio State (34 percent).Now that youre stuffed with numbers and analysis, are you convinced the Tide are going all the way? Cast your vote below. ' ' '