Man City vs Everton Match Preview: Previous Encounter, Key Battle, Team News & More

Manchester City entertain Everton in Monday evening's Premier League clash at the Etihad stadium. Both sides won their opening fixture of the 2017/18 Premier

90 Min | Aug 21, 2017

Man City vs Everton Match Preview: Previous Encounter, Key Battle, Team News & More /

Manchester City entertain Everton in Monday evening's Premier League clash at the Etihad stadium.

Both sides won their opening fixture of the 2017/18 Premier League campaign, and will want to build on solid showings by scooping up all three points from this encounter too.

Here we provide the lowdown on everything you need to know ahead of the contest between Pep Guardiola's Citizens and Ronald Koeman's Toffees:

Previous Meeting

Everton blitzed Guardiola's charges in the last encounter between the two north west teams as Koeman's men ran out 4-0 winners at Goodison Park in January.

The Spaniard's side were blown away by the rampant Blues in a match that will be long remembered for Tom Davies' and Ademola Lookman's maiden goals for the club.

Departed Toffees striker Romelu Lukaku fired the hosts into a 34th minute lead from Kevin Mirallas' low cut back, before he returned the favour for his Belgium compatriot on the stroke of half-time.

Davies' virtuoso solo strike - running from halfway, beating three challenges and dinking the ball over the sprawling Claudio Bravo - sent Evertonians wild on 79 minutes to seemingly wrap up the points.

Lookman then slotted home in injury time on his senior bow for the Blues to cap a memorable game for everyone associated with the Royal Blue jersey.

Key Battle

Man City's Fearsome Strikeforce vs Everton's Resilient Defence

Guardiola will know that, given any opportunity to do so, either Gabriel Jesus or Sergio Aguero can find the back of the net.

The Brazil and Argentina internationals have developed a strong partnership up front since the former's arrival in January, and their movement, finishing ability and link up play is enough to make any defender fearful of coming up against them.

Everton, though, have become defensively resolute under Koeman over the past 12 months, and their run of form already this term shows they won't be any pushovers at the back.

Four successive clean sheets have been gleaned from four competitive outings, and the vast majority of chances for opponents have come from long-range strikes that Jordan Pickford has excelled at batting away.

If City manage to utilise their forward line's pace and movement then they can pose problems for Everton. The Toffees, though, will be instructed to remain switched on by their boss, and doing so will set up a tantalising battle of wills between the opposing forces.

Team News

City boss Guardiola confirmed that Ilkay Gundogan managed to get through a friendly encounter with Girona without suffering a setback following his lengthy lay-off with a cruciate knee ligament tear.

The Germany international, however, is not fit enough to feature, while Benjamin Mendy and Samir Nasri are also missing through thigh and neck problems.

Everton manager Koeman will give Sandro Ramirez every chance to prove his fitness after he sat out Thursday's Europa League victory with a slight ankle niggle.

The Dutchman will definitely be without Ross Barkley (hamstring), Ramiro Funes Mori (knee), Yannick Bolasie (knee) and Seamus Coleman (broken leg) but James McCarthy could return from a slight knee knock to play some part.

Predicted Man City Starting Lineup: Ederson; Walker, Kompany, Stones, Danilo; Sterling, Fernandinho, Silva, De Bruyne; Jesus, Aguero.

Predicted Everton Starting Lineup: Pickford; Martina, Keane, Williams, Baines; Schneiderlin, Gueye; Lookman, Klaassen, Mirallas; Rooney.

Prediction

Barcelona old boys Guardiola and Koeman have a mutual respect for one another from their La Blaugrana days, but for 90 minutes they will set aside their friendship and hope their respective teams can pick up a crucial victory even at this early stage.

City will certainly have the bulk of the possession but, with a defence that is still prone to making the odd error, Everton could end up capitalising on any they make - particularly on the break.

Monday's match should prove to be an entertaining affair but, with three of the last seven meetings ending in draws, we can't see anything but a share of the spoils to leave both clubs fairly satisfied.

Prediction: Manchester City 1-1 Everton

Published Aug 21, 2017

90 MIN