English Premier
2025-04-19 - Everton vs Manchester City
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 19th April 2025 - Kick Off 3pm
Everton
One more win, or one more failure from Ipswich Town to pick up maximum points, will secure Everton another season in the Premier League and allow David Moyes to visit the new Stadium, which is opening in August for competitive football. The veteran manager will be hoping that his short time in charge of the club will persuade the board to back him with decent funds this summer to help improve Everton all around and fans will be grateful for the job David Moyes has done.
A late winner at the City Ground has moved Everton up into 13th place in the Premier League table and you have to believe Moyes takes some pleasure in seeing his team above Manchester United and West Ham United. Just three games remain at Goodison Park where Everton have a 4-8-4 record in the Premier League having scored 22 goals and conceded 19.
Everton have lost 1 of their last 9 Premier League games since being beaten by Bournemouth in the FA Cup Fourth Round, but draws have been a big feature of that run and it looked like another last weekend before the very late winner. The Toffees crushed Leicester City 4-0 here in the Premier League in early February, but have shared 4 straight draws at Goodison Park in League fixtures since then.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin is hoping to return next weekend, but will miss out.
Manchester City
Winning the FA Cup and adding more silverware to the loaded Manchester City trophy cabinet is important, but there is also little doubt that the club needs to finish in the top five in the Premier League and return to the Champions League next season. At around 1pm local time last Saturday, Manchester City looked in disarray as they trailed Crystal Palace 0-2 at the Etihad Stadium, but Kevin De Bruyne inspired a big, important comeback.
It could easily have been 0-3 before the Belgian midfielder halved the deficit and Manchester City ran out 5-2 winners and have moved into 5th place in the Premier League table. They are now a point clear of Chelsea and Aston Villa with both playing after this fixture and Pep Guardiola will be urging his team to keep the pressure on those Champions League chasing rivals. The side have a 6-4-6 away record in the Premier League where they have scored 25 goals and conceded 21.
Manchester City are unbeaten in 5 games in all competitions since the 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest and they have earned 3 wins in 4. They have been having one or two issues away from home in the Premier League with a single win in 4 on their travels in the Division, while Manchester City have failed to score in their last 2 away League games at the City Ground and Old Trafford.
Ederson picked up a knock last Saturday and is a doubt, as is Phil Foden who had missed out completely. Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake, John Stones and Erling Haaland are likely to still be missing.
Head to Head
These two teams played out a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium on Boxing Day.
Pep Guardiola has clearly taken it personally having seen his Manchester City team lose 4-0 on their first visit to Goodison Park... Since then, Manchester City have won 8 in a row here, including a 1-3 win on their last visit in December 2023.
Prediction
In recent seasons, Manchester City have visited Goodison Park as a much shorter priced favourite to win at this ground.
It says something about the inconsistency of Pep Guardiola's men AND the improvement made under David Moyes that this Everton versus Manchester City fixture feels more competitive than usual.
Both teams earned important wins last weekend, which will have boosted confidence, and Everton have the added motivation of being down the last handful of fixtures to be played at Goodison Park.
Everton have drawn 4 League games in a row here, but will feel a touch unfortunate in the 2-2 draws with Liverpool and Manchester United. Most recently they held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw in a game that did not exactly fire, but there is encouragement for the home team that David Moyes has given them a positive plan to score goals.
They should certainly be able to test a Manchester City backline that has been hit pretty hard by injury with Ederson added to the list.
However, Manchester City have to take plenty of encouragement for the display in the 5-2 win over Crystal Palace, even if they have lacked for recent away League goals. Kevin De Bruyne looked close to his best last week and he was well supported by the veterans around him as Manchester City maintained their push for a top five finish and a return to the Champions League.
There are some attacking options that will be available to Pep Guardiola from the bench in this one too and Manchester City may think the best approach is to outscore Everton here.
Recent weeks suggest that will not be easy, but they have enjoyed trips to Goodison Park in recent years and Manchester City's win over Crystal Palace offers real momentum. A big game is coming up on Tuesday, which is a potential distraction, but both teams should offer plenty of threat in the final third and backing at least three goals to be shared out looks the right way to go.
6 of the 8 Premier League games Everton have hosted against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City have finished with at least three goals shared out and the defensive issues of the visiting team should encourage David Moyes' men to get forward. Improved results have not always been behind clean sheets so both teams are likely to find the back of the net and there should be enough chances to see the total reach three goals.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Everton 1-2 Manchester City
