After what felt like an eternity of an international break, City return to Premier League action as they host Everton on Sunday afternoon, looking to bounce back from their first loss and capitalise on what was a great second-half performance against Newcastle…

Opponent Observations

Everton have made just as good a start to this season as City, sitting one point above the Tigers in 7th with 9 points from a possible 15.
Still unbeaten this season, with 2 wins and 3 draws in the Premier League and 2 wins in the EFL Cup.

Everton opened the season with a comfortable win against Crystal Palace and cruised past Preston North End in the EFL Cup; they then went on to draw the next 3, twice with thanks to late equalisers against Bournemouth & Manchester United and ending goalless against a struggling Spurs side.

The Toffees entered the long international break with back-to-back wins against Wolves in the EFL Cup and against Ipswich Town in the Premier League.

Head-to-Head

In the Premier League, both sides have met on 6 occasions, City winning once, drawing twice and Everton winning the remaining three.

The most recent matchup came back in 2022 in the FA Cup third round, where City were agonisingly beaten 3-2 after a goal from Andros Townsend in extra time sealed the win for the Toffees.

Key Players

Jack Grealish (Left)
Former England international Jack Grealish enjoyed a successful loan in Merseyside until it was cut short after he picked up an injury last season.
He returned to the Toffees on another season-long deal for this campaign, and will be aiming to return to the fine form he found last season, getting himself back into a position where an international call-up is on the cards.

James Tarkowski (Middle)
Club Captain Tarkowski has so far been one of the standouts for Everton this season. As a centre-half, he has contributed to two goals in Everton’s opening 5 that have been key to securing his side some valuable points.
Netting the equaliser against Bournemouth in emphatic fashion, so much so that you’d question whether he’s been playing in the wrong position all these years. He then provided the assist for Everton’s only goal in their 1-0 win over Ipswich before the international break, earning MOTM in the process.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Right)
The English midfielder will surely be another one of Everton’s key players this season after emerging as a star last campaign, following his move from Chelsea in the summer.
Dewsbury-Hall featured 31 times, scoring 8 and assisting 4; he’s started brightly already this season with a goal in his first 5, averaging a 7.5 match rating and playing a key role in Everton’s game plan.

Their Last Few

Bournemouth 1 - 1 Everton (Premier League)
Everton 2 - 2 Man United (Premier League)
Tottenham 0 - 0 Everton (Premier League)
Everton 1 - 0 Wolves (EFL Cup)
Everton 1 - 0 Ipswich Town (Premier League)

Predictions

My predictions for the starting lineup to face the Toffees are as follows…

Goalkeeper: Konstantinos Tzolakis

Left Back: Ryan Giles
Centre Back: Nobel Mendy
Centre Back: John Egan
Right Back: Brooke Norton-Cuffy

Defensive Midfield: Lucas Gourna-Douath
Defensive Midfield: Regan Slater
Attacking Midfield: Matt Crooks

Left Wing: Sorba Thomas
Striker: Oli McBurnie
Right Wing: Mohamed Belloumi

Final Thoughts…

I think it’s going to be a tough test against an Everton side that has been neither here nor there so far, still unable to find some consistency in their performances.
I’m tempted to back City for a win, with them still being unbeaten at home and very likely to bounce back with a strong performance, but I think I’m edging towards a draw, which would be by no means a bad result at the end of the day. I’m going 1-1.

As always, Up the Tigers!!!