Everton vs Man City – Analysis, Prediction, Team News
Sunday 14th May 2023
14:00 GMT
Goodison Park
As part of our weekend Premier League predictions, we take a look at Man City’s visit to Goodison Park. Neither side will struggle for motivation here, but Everton haven’t beaten City in 6 years – can they change that? Free betting tips and more with our Everton vs Man City prediction.
Premier League Form:
Everton
Brighton
5-1 (A)
Leicester
2-2 (A)
Newcastle
4-1 (H)
Crystal Palace
0-0 (A)
Fulham
3-1 (H)
Man City
Leeds
2-1 (H)
West Ham
3-0 (H)
Fulham
2-1 (H)
Arsenal
4-1 (H)
Leicester
3-1 (H)
Everton vs Man City Preview
Everton executed their game plan superbly last time out as they humiliated Brighton 5-1 at the AMEX Stadium. To say that scoreline wasn’t on the cards is something of an understatement, but Everton were able to repeatedly and mercilessly exploit Brighton’s major weakness on the counter-attack. Five shots on target, five goals and 22% possession. We’re not going to say that’s one in the eye for possession football, but it demonstrates that counter-attacking football when executed to that level can prove to be extremely difficult to combat.
They had to endure intense spells of Brighton pressure but, for the most part, managed to limit Brighton to opportunities from crosses. Brighton did hit the woodwork a couple of times, but generally speaking, they shouldn’t (in our opinion at least) have any complaints about the result. That shock win has given Everton renewed hope in their fight against relegation. Though their task remains a difficult one, they have two winnable fixtures away to Wolves and at home to Bournemouth to close out their Premier League campaign.
Man City did indeed collect another three points at home to Leeds United but they were made to sweat a little in the final 10 minutes or so as they conceded a goal on the break after Gundogan’s missed penalty which would have put them 3-0 up. There’s no suggestion that City were fortunate to come through that match – Leeds came with a gameplan designed around damage limitation, counter attacks and set pieces as you would expect from a team staring relegation in the face.
Thanks to that result, City retained their one-point lead over Arsenal and they still have a game in hand over Mikel Arteta’s men. With a Champions League final spot at stake in midweek, we expect that City will likely rotate 5-6 players despite their need for a victory here. Their playing squad is unmatched in terms of strength in depth, and we expect that they’ll again enjoy the luxury of being able to rest influential players for this match.
Team News
Injuries and Suspensions
Everton:
Might Not Play:
Will Not Play: Coleman, Godfrey, Townsend, Vinagre
Man City:
Might Not Play:
Will Not Play: Ake
Everton vs Man City Lineups (Predicted)
Everton (4-5-1): Pickford; Holgate, Tarkowski, Keane, Patterson; Gueye, Garner, Doucoure, Iwobi, McNeil; Calvert Lewin
Man City (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Dias, Laporte; Rodri, Gundogan; Foden, Mahrez, Alvarez; Haaland
Everton vs Man City Analysis
Everton – We Know What the Plan is
Although admittedly football does throw up plenty of surprises, we expect Everton to defend diligently in banks of four and five where necessary and break at pace whenever they have the opportunity to do so. Their performance at Brighton demonstrated how dangerous they can be when they get it right, but City are another step up from the south coast side and generally speaking, they defend transitions much better.
In attack, Everton employ something of a wing-play style, looking for the likes of McNeil who was excellent in midweek and Iwobi who has been one of their more impressive performers of late. This time around, however, McNeil will be up against Kyle Walker who is proving in the latter stages of his career to be an excellent one on one defender at both full-back and wide centre-back, despite his attacking returns diminishing.
Man City Will Want This Over and Done With
We’re not suggesting for a minute that City will be looking past their Merseyside hosts – the history of the game is full of shocks and sometimes the superior team doesn’t win. 9 times out of 10 though, we’d expect City to have north of 70% possession as they control, probe and look to turn the screw when the time is right against an Everton side that will both be on a high following their victory over Brighton but also they have a chance to repeat their gameplan here – familiarity could be a factor.
The longer this game is level, the more energy City will have to expend and they may have to resort to introducing players off the bench that they intended to rest for their Champions League semi-final second leg, particularly Kevin De Bruyne. Therefore, and we’re sure there will be no lack of motivation in general as they chase a historic treble, they’ll look to play higher tempo stuff and carve Everton open often and early. This could prove risky, but with the quality they have it’s surely worth the risk.
Our Prediction
It will be difficult for Everton to replicate their heroics at Brighton. They were good value for their win, but they faced a team that, for all their recent and deserved praise, have a glaring weakness in defending the counter-attack. City are more proficient at this aspect of possession-based football and they’re well-versed in getting back into position or doing everything in their power to ensure that the breakaway never gets going.
For their part, Everton can certainly make life difficult for City as they probe away in the Everton half. Bear in mind that Everton under Frank Lampard achieved a 1-1 draw at the Etihad, albeit against a Manchester City side who weren’t in this kind of form. The previous game to that one though was a narrow 1-0 victory. We think this will be a low-scoring victory for the visitors.
Everton 0-1 Man City
Everton vs Man City Betting Tip – Under 2.5 Goals Odds:
7/5
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