Everton v Manchester City – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

Everton host Man City at Goodison Park on Monday in what is a very tight turnaround for both sides after their wins on Saturday. Pep Guardiola’s side are three points off The Toffees with a game in hand and victory here will take them above Carlo Ancelotti’s team.

Everton Form

Having had a big dip in form after a superb season to the season, Everton are back to their best. With suspensions and injuries to deal with, Ancelotti’s side lost four matches across a seven-match run.

Since then, they have beaten Chelsea 1-0 at home, won 2-0 at Leicester, beaten Arsenal 2-1 at home, and won 1-0 at Sheffield United. Those four league wins in a row have seen the side jump to 2nd in the table. They are in superb form and will now have ambitions to finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League.

Everton Team News

Everton are dealing with several injuries at the moment. Allan is missing with a hamstring problem in midfield and two possible replacements for him in the form of Fabian Delph and Jean-Philippe Gbamin are also absent.

Lucas Digne is missing at left-back so Ben Godfrey will continue with the superb job he has been doing in that role. In attack, Richarlison has a concussion so it may be Bernard on that side. James Rodriguez is close to a return but may need to wait another week.

Everton don’t have the depth (partly due to injuries) to fresh up the side very much but Andre Gomes and Seamus Coleman could come in, possibly with Mason Holgate moving into midfield.

Everton Motivation

Ancelotti’s plan has worked wonders to beat Chelsea, Leicester, and Arsenal in recent games where they allowed the opposition to have plenty of the ball. Everton will sit deep and narrow, press and mark aggressively in midfield, and then use the running power of Alex Iwobi on the right to carry the ball forward on the counter-attack. Dominic Calvert-Lewin will be attacking crosses and running the channels.

Everton will play to keep a clean sheet and try to win 1-0 but a draw would be a very good result and they are likely to be very happy to settle for a point in the second half here.

Manchester City Form

Man City are quietly finding some very good form whilst staying in the shadows of the title race due to having a match in-hand. Guardiola’s side are 10 matches unbeaten and have only lost twice in 23 matches this season.

In the league, City drawing matches has hurt them with five one-point-hauls in their last 13 matches. However, with four wins in their last six, they are back on track and are defending very well. Their last two league matches saw a 1-0 win at Southampton and a 2-0 home win against Newcastle.

Manchester City Team News

With the very busy schedule and short turnaround time, expect Guardiola to make around 5-6 changes for this match. With a strong squad, it won’t mean a huge drop off in quality. Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus both have COVID-19 and are expected to miss out but there are many fresh options to call upon.

Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez, and Aymeric Laporte all look certain starters, whilst Benjamin Mendy and Fernandinho should also come in. Sergio Aguero continues his slow return from injury and could get closer to 45 minutes in this match.

Manchester City Motivation

City will look at Everton’s recent attritional performances against the big sides and will know what to expect. Guardiola’s side will have a lot of the ball and find themselves funneled into wide areas and encouraged to deliver crosses into the area where Everton have a height advantage.

City will also need to be wary of the height that Everton possesses at set plays and on the counter-attack, so speedy defenders and maybe an extra tall player for set plays could be favoured by Guardiola. City won’t settle for a draw and will play to win this match on the road.

Key Stats

Everton have won 4 PL matches in a row

The Toffees have kept 3 clean sheets in their last 4 PL matches

Everton have won their last 2 home matches, having lost 2 in a row before that

Man City have won 5 PL matches in a row against Everton

City have kept 8 clean sheets in their last 10 matches in all competitions

Prediction

This looks likely to be a very tight affair with Everton’s blueprint working well against the top sides. City perhaps have the edge as they have a deeper squad and more options to freshen things up both from the start and in-game. A draw or one-goal win for City is perhaps the best bet.