With the second international break of the season coming to a close, Everton now have a trip to the Etihad Stadium to look forward to on Saturday afternoon, marking the beginning of what is a tricky run of fixtures. A two-week break will have given a stretched Everton squad the chance to recover some energy, whilst the vast majority of Manchester City’s players were away on international duty. This fixture is hardly the ideal game to come back to however, with City looking like they are getting back to their very best this season.
Everton will be counting themselves lucky that they find themselves on 11 points this season, after somehow picking up three more against Crystal Palace two weeks ago. In a game where Everton could have easily been 4-0 down by the time Iliman Ndiaye scored his penalty, the Toffees did what they have done best under David Moyes since his return, by sticking around in games and picking up points even when they are not at their best.
However, the performance last week cannot be ignored, at least for 70 minutes. If Maxence Lacroix doesn’t give away a silly penalty, we could very well be sat here thinking about another defeat. The first half performance from Everton was the worst they have played at the Hill Dickinson Stadium so far – it was reminiscent of the 1-0 defeat to Leeds, in that there seemed to be no plan for when Everton went forward. That did change after half time, as Carlos Alcaraz and Beto replaced Thierno Barry and Tyler Dibling, who are yet to settle in.
Crystal Palace have been a fantastic team this season, and were for most of last season, so it is always good to beat them. Things don’t get any easier with a trip to the Etihad looming, against a Man City team who are unbeaten since August. Despite a slight slip-up against Monaco in the Champions League, City look like they are ready to challenge for the league title once again – they are average the more points-per-game out of any team in the league this calendar year, with 2.04.
Everton and Manchester City – History
Everton have not beaten City since the famous 4-0 win in 2017, under Ronald Koeman.
Since then, the Toffees have picked up just three draws, losing the remaining 14 games.
One of these draws came last season at the Etihad Stadium, where Iliman Ndiaye scored with a great finish to secure a draw, during what was City’s worst run of form under Pep Guardiola.
Team News
Star man Jack Grealish is ineligible for this game, as he is on loan from Manchester City.
Michael Keane will be assessed before kick-off, after being forced off against Crystal Palace.
Jarrad Branthwaite and Merlin Rohl remain doubts despite both being back in training.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is available again after serving his one-match suspension against Crystal Palace.
Man City will hope to have Omar Marmoush, Rayan Ait-Nouri, and Abdukodir Khusanov back in the matchday squad after spells with injury.
Rayan Cherki returned to the matchday squad against Brentford, after missing seven games through injury.
What the Manager says
On the Crystal Palace game – ‘We started the game really poorly. We gave away two or three long throw-ins, two or three corner kicks. We never got the chance to grip the game at all.’
On the last minute winner – ‘It was an unbelievable ball by Iliman Ndiaye to get to the byline in a tight space, stand the ball up and Beto really should score.’
Everton Key player
Jordan Pickford – After signing a new four-year deal over the last week, Pickford will be eager to get back playing in front of the fans who love him most; as well as being eager to make some saves again. Pickford kept two clean sheets on international duty with England, meaning he has now gone over a year without conceding a goal for the Three Lions – putting to bed any doubts over whether new manager Thomas Tuchel will see him as his number one.
Pickford recently spoke about how he needs to keep himself involved in games that his teams are dominating by being vocal in order to be prepared enough to make saves if needed. He certainly will not be needing to do that on Saturday – City have averaged nearly 20 shots in each of their last three matches against Everton at the Etihad. Despite this, Pickford has only conceded four goals from these shots.
Everton’s number one saved a penalty from Erling Haaland last year in an unexpected 1-1 draw in this fixture – in a period which saw him save two penalties in a row and helped strengthen his image as one of the best penalty stopped on the planet. Everton fans, as well as Pickford, would not complain with a repeat of last year’s events.
One to watch for Manchester City
Erling Haaland – Is there any question? City’s number 9 has already broken the 20-goal mark for club and country this season… in October! Even more frighteningly, Haaland’s record of five goals after his first four league games was statistically his worst-ever start to a Premier League season.
Haaland, and City in general, have adopted a new style of play this season. Whilst the tiki-taka side of things still remains, City are no longer afraid to pump the ball long to him. The Norwegian’s physicality and speed are unplayable on his day, and the issue for defenders is that his day seems to come every week. Take the goal against Brentford for example – Haaland easily spun the defender and then slotted into the net, making it look like a physical mismatch. Against an Everton defence which could be slightly shifted around, more of the same could happen.
Final Thoughts
Everton’s win against Crystal Palace has relieved a lot of pressure off this match. If Everton do lose here, which is likely, they will have played 8 games and gained 11 points. Compare that to 8 points after 8 games if the Palace game resulted in defeat and the table is looking far healthier. That win has make this next tricky run of fixtures look far less daunting.
At this point, everybody is now aware of David Moyes’ poor record away at ‘Big 6’ grounds. The latest Merseyside Derby proved that – Everton looked completely overwhelmed by the situation. Moyes needs to stop giving these teams so much respect and instead go toe to toe with them, but old habits die hard.
City are an incredible team and Everton are still struggling to perform consistently. All they need to do is hit City on the break and try to stick around in the game for 90 minutes – then, who knows what can happen. City still look vulnerable at times, and on another day Brentford could have nicked a point two weeks ago if it wasn’t for a great save from Donnarumma.
Prediction
2-1 – I think City will have too much quality on the day for Everton. Haaland seems to have scored before a ball is even kicked at this point in time, and even the slightest of chances can result in a goal for him. The players behind him in Jeremy Doku and Phil Foden also seem to be right back in form, providing an even trickier task for Everton’s back four.
Jack Grealish will be a huge miss for the blues. So much of their play goes through him, and he is constantly relied upon to relieve pressure and buy fouls; it will be interesting to see how Moyes attempts to replace the unreplaceable.
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