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The Champions Manchester City Host Everton

Following another dramatic series of European games during the week we’re set to return to every day normality in the form of Premier League football. This is the time of year when the games come thick and fast and even that might be an understatement, with a number of high profile encounters being set for us to enjoy. One such game will see Manchester City take on Everton, with both teams needing to get back to their best in the wake of a few questionable performances recently. Of course, their fans may have something to say about that little theory.

Man City vs Everton is a classic fixture within the realms of English football but beyond that, they almost always have exciting games against one another. It’s a game which will pit a title contender against a side on the outside of the European hunt looking in, and again, there’s something quite intriguing about that dynamic. Nobody really knows which way either race is going to go at this stage of the campaign, but what we do know is that we can expect a great back and forth between two sides who will start to cause a bit of a panic if they don’t get the result they’re looking for.

Pep Guardiola has been able to lead Manchester City towards bigger, brighter and better times since he took charge at the Etihad, and while it hasn’t always been smooth sailing, he’s made it work. This season already feels like it’s going to be much, much more competitive than the last, even though you could argue their squad is even better. They’ve got all the right pieces in place to have yet another iconic and historic season of success, but there are 19 other teams that would happily disagree with that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGy0nwsNZ0g

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Everton fans haven’t exactly been happy in recent years, as they’ve been forced to sit and watch as Tottenham solidified their place in the top six year after year: which is a position many fans always expected them to be in. Alas, while there’s been a lot of disappointment as of late, there’s still cause for optimism with Marco Silva seeming like the kind of man who can turn things around. Things have gone pretty well thus far and as we look ahead to the next few months, catching Manchester United seems like a very realistic ambition.

City’s latest six game stretch kicked off as anyone reading this would expect: with a demolition. They tore through West Ham United 4-0, although they followed that up with a really hard fought draw against Lyon in the Champions League which opened a lot of people’s eyes. They managed to string together 3-1 and 2-1 wins over Bournemouth and Watford respectively, but then, the season took a turn. They lost 2-0 to Chelsea which marked their first defeat in the Premier League this season, and while they won against Hoffenheim in the week, this illusion that City are invincible has now been shattered.

Everton, on the other hand, have been a little bit more inconsistent. Their six game stretch began with a nice 3-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion, before a 0-0 draw against Chelsea served as a reminder of what they’re capable of. They then edged out a 1-0 win over Cardiff, before a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Liverpool ensured that Jordan Pickford would be having a few sleepless nights. Back to back draws against Newcastle and Watford, sides they probably should be beating in order to get into Europe, didn’t really help matters.

As we’ve noted these two teams are very familiar with one another, and given their respective histories, it shouldn’t be all too surprising to learn that City only hold a narrow 69-68 advantage in the overall head to head standings with 47 draws. Their first meeting came way back in 1899 and they’ve been tussling it out ever since, with their last meeting taking place back in March of this year when City ran out 3-1 winners. Everton will be looking for revenge and they’ll also be looking to tie up the series, and while that may not mean much to a lot of fans out there, football historians will certainly appreciate it.

The big story from a team news perspective, for City at least, is that Sergio Aguero could well be on the verge of returning to the starting XI. The Argentine has missed four games in a row courtesy of a groin injury, although when he’s fully fit, many fans virtually demand to see him play some kind of role given just how deadly he still is in front of goal. Fernandinho and Danilo are facing a race to be fit in time, although David Silva will, unfortunately, be unable to play due to a hamstring issue. Kevin De Bruyne, as many know, is still out and likely won’t return for at least another week.

Things are slightly brighter for Everton when it comes to a possible team selection, with the only major doubt being Idrissa Gueye who went off against Watford due to a supposed injury. Aside from that it seems like they’ll have a fully fit squad to choose from, which is hardly an every day occurrence for a team in the top flight. With that in mind, it seems as if there will be no excuses if a full strength Everton can’t at the very least give City a good game.

Manchester City vs Everton Betting Prediction

Despite a few setbacks in recent weeks it still feels like City are head and shoulders above most in English football, and we can see them imposing their will on the Toffees very early on this weekend. They’re expected to come flying out of the gates and we think that’s exactly how they’re going to play this, with the visitors parking the bus as a direct result. City will get frustrated, but we think they’ll finally get the breakthrough just after half time – probably with a moment of magic, which isn’t exactly hard to believe.

Everton will know that they need to come out searching for the equaliser but we just don’t think they’ve got it in them to find it. We’re predicting City to then grab a second late in the game, with Everton scoring a consolation goal to give them false hope. In the end we’ll be left with a final scoreline of 2-1, and to be perfectly honest, Silva shouldn’t be too discouraged by that. After all we’re talking about City here, and you have to be a special kind of team (or just really on your game) in order to get a positive result against them.