Everton vs Manchester City 29/09/19

29 September 2019

Everton and Manchester City go head-to-head at Goodison Park, with both sides coming into this Premier League (PL) fixture after winning their respective Carabao Cup games to nil.

None of Everton’s last five PL outings has ended in a stalemate (W2, L3), with both of their wins in that period arriving on home turf. But, after a 1-0 triumph over Watford, the Toffees have conceded precisely two goals per match in the two subsequent PL home outings, which could be a major problem here. They have not only lost three of their previous H2Hs with Man City, but they’ve allowed over 1.5 match goals in each of those clashes. A bigger problem for Marco Silva could be Everton’s lack of creativity in the final third. His side failed to find the net three times this term, scoring precisely one goal in two of the remaining three league matches.

The visitors have, on the other hand, swept Watford aside with an intimidating 8-0 home triumph last time out, which was a perfect response to a shock 3-2 away loss to Norwich City. Sitting five points adrift of top-placed Liverpool, the reigning holders can’t make a mistake here. But two defeats in the last four competitive visits to this venue suggest it could be a tricky task (W2, L2). The Citizens, nonetheless, boast by far the best attacking record in the PL this season (24), having scored two or more goals in each of their six league games so far. Additionally, only two sides have shipped fewer goals than City (6) this term, with five of those goals coming in two matches.