Improving Everton welcome Club World Cup champions Manchester City to Goodison Park on Wednesday night as the festive Premier League action continues.
Sean Dyche’s Toffees were unlucky to lose out to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, going down 2-1 in north London, and showed why they would be 10th in the Premier League table were it not for their recent ten-point deduction.
City, meanwhile, were out in Saudi Arabia over the past week beating Urawa Reds and Fluminense to win the Club World Cup – an English club record fifth trophy of 2023.
Here’s 90min’s preview of the game.
Everton vs Manchester City H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
Amazon Prime Video |
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United States |
nbcsports.com, NBC Sports App, UNIVERSO, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, UNIVERSO NOW, USA Network |
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Canada |
fuboTV Canada |
Everton are still without key midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure because of a hamstring injury, while there’s also a doubt over the availability of Idrissa Gueye. The Senegalese international picked up a knock against Spurs and had to be replaced after just 23 minutes by forgotten man Andre Gomes.
Seamus Coleman, Ashley Young and Dele Alli are almost certainly out for the hosts.
Everton predicted lineup (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Patterson, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Gueye, Onana; Harrison, Garner, McNeil; Calvert-Lewin.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola hasn’t given too much away about the condition of Erling Haaland, who Everton will be hoping isn’t ready to return from a foot injury.
Kevin De Bruyne is near the end of his hamstring recovery road, though an appearance on Merseyside may be a step too far. Jeremy Doku is also a concern having missed City’s last three Premier League games.
Rodri avoided serious injury against Fluminense but was the victim of a clumsy tackle on his ankle – whether or not he starts remains to be seen.
Man City predicted lineup (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Dias, Gvardiol, Ake; Stones, Kovacic, Bernardo; Foden, Alvarez, Grealish.
Everton have shown plenty of Sean Dyche spirit in recent weeks, picking up valuable points to ease their relegation fears. However, they can’t rest easy just yet, particularly as they have an awful recent record against City.
The reigning Premier League champions have won 11 of the last 12 meetings between the two sides, scoring 31 goals in the process. They will feel confident of extending that run, despite their indifferent form in the league and injury concerns, and may have some secret weapons up their sleeve if Guardiola has been coy.
Prediction: Everton 1-2 Manchester City
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