Evertonvs.Man City

The Citizens were left frustrated the last time they butted heads with the Toffees in December when they were held to a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium.

Match preview

Everton were sitting just one point above the Premier League relegation zone when David Moyes replaced Sean Dyche in mid-January. Now, they find themselves a remarkable 17 points clear of the bottom three and could guarantee top-flight survival this weekend with five games still left to play after facing Man City.

Only four other Premier League teams have accumulated more points than the Toffees (21) since the arrival of Moyes, who boasts a record of five wins, six draws and just two defeats across 13 top-flight fixtures, most recently securing a surprise, yet arguably deserved, snatch-and-grab 1-0 victory at top-five hopefuls Nottingham Forest last weekend.

Everton seemed destined for a goalless draw at the City Ground until a stunning breakaway in the fourth minute of added time was finished off by Abdoulaye Doucoure, helping the Merseysiders secure their eighth league win of the season and fifth under Moyes to fire them up to 13th in the table.

The Toffees will welcome Saturday's return to Goodison Park where they are unbeaten in their last six PL games, although each of their last four have ended all square and they have never drawn five consecutive home league games in their history.

Success against Man City has been hard to come by for Everton, as they are winless in their last 15 Premier League meetings with the Citizens (D3 L12) since beating them 4-0 on home soil in January 2017 - a result that still to this day represents the joint-heaviest defeat of Pep Guardiola's managerial career.

Almost a week on from watching ones of the dullest Manchester derbies, Man City supporters were fearing the worst at home to Crystal Palace last weekend as the Citizens were trailing by two goals in a testing opening 21 minutes.

However, Guardiola's men staged an impressive comeback, inspired by soon-to-be-departing Kevin De Bruyne, to overwhelm the Eagles by a 5-2 scoreline and strengthen their hopes of securing Champions League qualification for next season.

Man City have now scored a total of 102 goals across all competitions in 2024-25, surpassing a century of goals for the 12th consecutive season which is the longest run of any top-flight team in history. The Citizens have also picked up eight points across their last four Premier League fixtures (W2 D2) and victory over Palace moved them back into the top five with six games of the season remaining.

Since thrashing Ipswich Town 6-0 at Portman Road in January, Man City have only found the net on two occasions across their last four Premier League away games (W1 D1 L2), failing to score at all in their last two against Nottingham Forest (1-0) and Man United (0-0). The Citizens last failed to make the net ripple in three successive away games back in December 2015 under former boss Manuel Pellegrini.

Nevertheless, Man City will back themselves to come out on top against Everton this weekend, as they have won each of their last eight visits to Goodison Park across all competitions, scoring two or more goals on seven of those occasions.

Everton Premier League form:

D

D

D

L

D

W

Manchester City Premier League form:

W

L

D

W

D

W

Manchester City form (all competitions):

L

D

W

W

D

W

Team News

Everton's Jesper Lindstrom - on loan from Napoli - may have played his last game for the Toffees having recently underwent a hernia operation, and he is joined on the sidelines by Orel Mangala (knee) and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (hamstring).

Dwight McNeil has made two brief substitute appearances since recovering from a long-term knee injury, but whether he is ready to start ahead of Jack Harrison on the right flank this weekend remains to be seen.

Carlos Alcaraz may once again be utilised as an impact substitute as Iliman Ndiaye and Doucoure continue in advanced roles, while Beto could be recalled to the first XI to start up front at the expense of Armando Broja.

As for Man City, Ederson aggravated a groin issue against Palace and is set to join Rodri (ACL), Nathan Ake (foot), John Stones (thigh), Erling Haaland (ankle) and Manuel Akanji (abductor) in the treatment room, while Phil Foden (knock) will be assessed ahead of kickoff.

While Stefan Ortega is expected to replace Ederson in goal, Guardiola could be tempted to make one or two changes in defence following a shaky first half-hour against Palace. Matheus Nunes will be pushing to replace Rico Lewis at right-back and Abdukodir Khusanov could be recalled at centre-back if Josko Gvardiol replaces Nico O'Reilly at left-back.

Bernardo Silva, who scored in the reverse fixture against Everton, could return in midfield, while De Bruyne and Omar Marmoush could be joined in the final third by either Savinho or Jeremy Doku if James McAtee makes way.

Everton possible starting lineup:

Pickford; O'Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Gueye, Garner; Harrison, Doucoure, Ndiaye; Beto

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Ortega; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly; Gonzalez, Gundogan, Bernardo; Savinho, Marmoush, De Bruyne

We say: Everton 1-2 Manchester City

Everton have made themselves difficult to beat at Goodison Park, which in its final season as a stadium has become somewhat of a fortress as the Toffees have recently picked up points against Liverpool, Man United, West Ham and Arsenal, while their win at Forest has boosted their morale ahead of facing another challenging opponent.

Man City could become the latest side to have difficulty breaking down a robust Everton backline, but if Guardiola's attackers manage to click in the final third, then they should have enough to get the better of Moyes and co in what could prove to be a relatively tight encounter.

Written by

Oliver Thomas

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