Everton host Manchester City on Saturday, February 26 at Goodison Park. The match is scheduled to kick off at 5:30 pm.
Everton will want to get a result against Pep Guardiola’s dominant Man City team. The Toffees have struggled throughout the season and desperately want to avoid relegation. Man City on the other hand are in fine form and look to move further away from second-placed Liverpool. The Premier League title race is heating up once again, much to City’s disliking.
Everton comes to this game on the back of a setback against Southampton. Frank Lampard’s side lost 2-0 to the Saints. Stuart Armstrong and Shane Long were on target for Southampton as they made light work of an Everton team still in progress. Everton couldn’t muster a shot on target and will want to change that when they face City. The Toffees want to come out with a point atleast in a bid to avoid being in the relegation zone.
Everton Premier League Form: L W L L L L
Manchester City has been in red hot form. Although they lost against Tottenham Hotspur in their last outing, Pep Guardiola’s side was the team in control. The city would be looking to turn their fortunes around and get back to basics as they face a struggling Everton side. A Harry Kane brace, including a strike to clutch it in the end, along with an early Dejan Kulusevski opener cancelled out Ilkay Gundogan’s strike and a Riyad Mahrez penalty. City leads Liverpool by 3 points and wants to increase the gap as Liverpool do not play this week.
Manchester City Premier League Form: L W W D W W
EVERTON TEAM NEWS
Everton duo Demarai Gray and Abdoulaye Doucoure have both taken part in training this week, after recovering from respective hip and groin injuries, but they will be assessed ahead of kickoff to see if they are fit to start.
Lampard will, however, be without Yerry Mina (thigh), Ben Godfrey (hamstring), Fabian Delph (thigh) and Tom Davies (thigh) due to injury.
Despite failing to impress in front of goal last weekend, Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are set to retain their places in attack, while Anthony Gordon is expected to start on the left side of midfield, with either Andros Townsend, Alex Iwobi or Anwar El Ghazi to operate on the opposite flank.
January signing Dele Alli is yet to start for the Toffees and the 25-year-old may have to settle for a place on the substitutes’ bench again this weekend, with Donny van de Beek and Allan seemingly preferred in centre-midfield by Lampard at present.
EVERTON POSSIBLE LINE-UP AGAINST MANCHESTER CITY
Pickford; Coleman, Holgate, Keane, Kenny; Townsend, Allan, Van de Beek, Gray; Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin
MANCHESTER CITY TEAM NEWS
As for Man City, Guardiola has confirmed that Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus are both available to play after recovering from the respective shin and muscle injuries, while Oleksandr Zinchenko is also in contention to feature despite Russia’s invasion of his native Ukraine.
The Spanish boss is unlikely to make too many changes to his starting lineup; however, if Riyad Mahrez is recalled then Ilkay Gundogan could drop out, which would likely see Bernardo Silva move into the midfield three alongside Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne.
John Stones and Nathan Ake, who were both unused substitutes against Spurs, will be looking to force their way into the first XI, though Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte are the most likely duo to begin at centre-back with Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo to continue as the full-backs.
MANCHESTER CITY POSSIBLE LINE-UP AGAINST EVERTON
Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo; Mahrez, Foden, Sterling
OUR PREDICTION
Everton 0 – 3 Manchester City
Everton failed to score against Southampton in their last outing. There is reason to believe that scoring against the best defence in the league is a big ask for them. Man City on the other hand has been in a terrific run of form despite their shock defeat against Spurs. We back Pep Guardiola’s side to come out with an easy win.
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