English Premier
2024-12-26 - Manchester City vs Everton
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Thursday 26th December 2024 - Kick Off 12:30pm
This game is live on TV
Manchester City
Things continue to unravel for Manchester City and there may be one or two people wondering how long the owners would give Pep Guardiola to turn things back around? The reality is that they will be very happy with Guardiola and will want the Spaniard to lead any potential rebuild that needs to take place across the next two transfer windows, while the manager is simply focused on helping his players find some positive results.
A big month is coming up for Manchester City both domestically and in the Champions League and they need to find positive momentum having slipped into 7th place in the Premier League table. There is now a 4 point gap between the four time defending Champions and the top four places, and Manchester City return home on Boxing Day where they have a 5-1-2 record in the top flight.
Manchester City were pretty well beaten at Aston Villa on Saturday and that means they have suffered defeat in 9 of their last 12 in all competitions, including the last 3 in a row. The side have won 1 of their last 4 games at the Etihad Stadium and fans must still be wondering how Manchester City managed to lose the derby a couple of weeks ago.
Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias are set to miss out, as is John Stones whose return to the side lasted until half time on Saturday. Ederson and Matheus Nunes are both also doubts. Kevin De Bruyne was an unused sub a few days ago, but should be available.
Everton
Battling goalless draws might have kept the points ticking over, but the Everton fans will have been less happy when noting that those results against Arsenal and Chelsea have aided Liverpool's title push. Ultimately Sean Dyche is only concerned with the results his team are putting together to avoid a damaging relegation, while there might be a new buzz around the club after the takeover was completed by the Friedkin Group.
Funds are unlikely to be available in the January transfer window so the likelihood is that Sean Dyche will be given the chance to see out the season barring Everton's form dramatically dipping. The Toffees are 15th in the Premier League table, but teams like Ipswich Town and Wolves have just closed back to within 4 points of Everton, although the latter have a game in hand. They will open Boxing Day bidding to improve their 1-3-4 away record in the Premier League.
Everton have won 1 of their last 8 Premier League games, although Sean Dyche's team have only lost 1 of their last 6 which has just allowed them to steer clear of the bottom three. Goalless draws with Arsenal and Chelsea over the last fortnight have just shown the resiliency and organisation that Dyche has instilled in this Everton team, although they have failed to score in 4 away League games.
Armando Broja is available having sat out against his parent club on Sunday, but Dwight McNeil remains a doubt.
Head to Head
Manchester City completed the Premier League double over Everton last season.
The fixture at the Etihad Stadium finished 2-0 in favour of Manchester City in February 2024 and that means 5 wins in 6 games when hosting Everton.
Prediction
The last two and a half months have been shocking as far as Manchester City's continued poor run goes and Pep Guardiola just simply cannot find the solutions to turn things around.
The team look nervy, which is a surprise, and that is partly down to things going wrong time after time during a run of 9 losses in 12 games played in all competitions.
Individual mistakes are not helping and Manchester City were on their heels after just twenty seconds on Saturday at Villa Park, while it was more mistakes that ended up costing them the Manchester derby.
Players are questioning one another and the backline is decimated through injury, but there is also plenty of concern about the predictable attacking player that has made facing Manchester City all the more comfortable.
Sean Dyche will set his Everton team up to be very hard to beat and they have shown their resiliency in back to back goalless draws with Arsenal and Chelsea. There have been times they have had to ride their luck to earn those clean sheets, which has to be expected, but Dyche will set his team up looking to make things tense for the hosts and then see if Everton can pick anything up from set pieces or on the counter attack.
We did not see much of that at Arsenal though and Everton have not scored in 4 away Premier League games. The draw with Chelsea on Sunday actually means Everton have only scored in 1 of their last 7 Premier League games overall and you do have to wonder if they have the ability to test this Manchester City team like so many others have.
Ultimately the away team might arrive on Boxing Day looking to earn another point and that might just be what Manchester City need to calm things down.
With the likes of Phil Foden, Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, you do have to believe that Manchester City will still find a route to goal and a single strike might be all they need to earn the three points. A single win in 12 games is impossible to ignore, but that was in a fixture where Manchester City earned a clean sheet.
Defensive issues have piled up since then, but the odds on a home win with a clean sheet look very well priced and Everton's lack of real belief in the final third may show up here.
Of course an early Manchester City goal would change the entire approach that Sean Dyche will want from his team, but the feeling is that Everton may not be as keen to test this backline as others have been and it may lead to a relatively comfortable day in the office for Pep Guardiola, one to just cool the storm that has built around the club.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Manchester City 2-0 Everton
