England Premier League
Wednesday 1st January 2020
Kick off at 5:30pm GMT
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Match Preview:
One of the potentially great and exciting matches in the Premier League will be one of the first of a brand new decade when Manchester City take on Everton.
You could spend most of 2020 counting how many trophies that Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti have won between them and seeing these two great managers come head to head will be very fascinating.
Manchester City of course will start as the odds on favourites and the champions come into this game in the unlikely league position of 3rd place, though if they win and Leicester lose or draw they would go 2nd. City’s form has been average for their standards losing 2 of their last five games and their season all in all has been inconsistent. In their last game they beat Sheffield United 2-0 at the Etihad and the advantage for the club is that they have been able to stay at home for two games now.
Guardiola’s side have won 70% of their games at home but have lost twice there already. They are scoring almost 3 goals a game on average at home and have conceded just 9 goals, which is the equal best record with another four teams in the league.
There is a buzz and feel good factor at Everton after the arrival of Ancelotti and the club have won both games he has been in charge of, beating Burnley first and then Newcastle. It was the Newcastle result that was really significant though given that it was Newcastle's first defeat at St James' since August and only their 2nd of the season. More good news for Everton is that striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin has really reacted to the appointment of Ancelotti and has scored 3 goals in 2 games for the club now and is on hot form. Even Man Utd are apparantly looking to sign him now, he's certainly looking quite a bargain for Everton considering he was signed for only £1.6mil.
Everton have climbed up to 10th place and relegation threats, which the club had genuine concern for at the beginning of the month now seem like a distant dream. The Newcastle win was only Everton’s 2nd away victory of the season and they have a poor overall away record. They are conceding almost 2 goals a game on the road.
Team News:
Manchester City: David Silva looks set to miss out again for this game after a knock. John Stones still has a hamstring injury and looks like a doubt for this game
Everton: The club have no new injuries coming into this game
Man City vs Everton Head to Head:
Last season Manchester City won this fixture 3-1.
Manchester City have won the last 4 meetings in a row.
Everton have not beaten Manchester City away from home since 2010.
3 of the last 4 meetings has ended with the correct score line of 3-1, all to Manchester City.
Man City vs Everton Prediction:
Manchester City don’t seem as strong as last season and a shrewd Everton tactical display and given that Ancelotti is in the dug out could yield something from the away team. At the same time how focused are City here? In this season they have lost games you wouldn’t have expected them to lose, the Norwich loss and a double defeat by Wolves. When City click no club has a chance and perhaps they feel they have one last chance to make the greatest of comebacks in the league if Liverpool hit a patch of poor form. This is why this game will be taken seriously of course and on paper City should be able to get the win. But maybe the bookmakers have missed a trick and having such a quality manager in charge with Everton, Ancelotti can except defeat against the best but have his team remain in the game for long periods and keep the score respectable. So we will back Everton on the handicap.
Man City vs Everton Betting Tips:
Asian handicap (+2.0 Everton) at 1.675
Both teams to score at 1.66
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