Manchester City-Everton is a match on the 24th day of the Premier League and is played Saturday at 1:30pm: live TV, probable lineups, predictions.
Neither Haaland nor De Bruyne. A hat-trick by a wild Foden (1-3) was enough for Manchester City to tame Brentford on Monday. It was a very important success because it allows the Cityzens to be potentially first in the standings again: actually, in front there is still Liverpool, but the Reds have one match less than the reigning champions of England, Europe and the world, which they will make up next February 20 (the opponent is still Brentford, a match that was postponed at the time because of City’s commitment to the World Club Championship).
But, beyond the standings – the championship, in fact, is still long – for Pep Guardiola it was crucial to find his best men (De Bruyne above all, returned from a long injury) and put behind him the complicated period experienced by his team between November and December. For a month and a half now, Manchester City has started to rack up victory after victory again, between the league and the FA Cup. The only flaw probably concerns a defense that appears less solid than usual: in the last three days of the Premier League, in fact, the men led by the Catalan coach have never managed to keep their goal unbeaten, and this also explains why Arsenal and Liverpool – who have conceded three fewer goals – are managing to hold their own against the battleship that has had practically no rivals for three seasons now at home.
Everton haven’t won in nearly two months
City meanwhile will take the field first in this round of the league and in case of a win will only put pressure on Liverpool, which will face the challenge with Burnley already knowing the result of the match between the Cityzens and Everton.
The Toffees haven’t won since mid-December: a fast that complicates their position in the standings – third-last place is the child of the 10 penalty points – but last Saturday they curbed the race of Tottenham, which at Goodison Park had to settle for a draw (2-2).
The Prediction
Manchester City has regained goals, points and certainty at the decisive moment of the season. It won’t be Everton to hold back Guardiola’s team, which is in a hurry to get back in front of everyone. Cityzens win in a game in which the Toffees could also find their way to goal.
The likely lineups for Manchester City-Everton
MANCHESTER CITY (4-1-4-1): Ederson; Walker, Ruben Dias, Aké, Gvardiol; Rodri; Bernardo Silva, Julian Alvarez, De Bruyne, Foden; Haaland.
EVERTON (4-5-1): Pickford; Patterson, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Harrison, Onana, Garner, Gueye, McNeil; Calvert-Lewin.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-1
