Newly crowned Club World Cup champions, Manchester City return to Premier League action away to Everton at Goodison Park.
Victory could see Everton climb as high as 14th depending upon results elsewhere, whilst Man City look to move back into fourth with Tottenham not in action until Thursday evening.
Team News
Idrissa Gueye is set to be ruled out for Everton after he was substituted with an unspecified injury during their defeat at Tottenham.
Seamus Coleman (fitness), Ashley Young (knock) and Dele Alli (hip) could feature if match fit but
Abdoulaye Doucoure (hamstring) remains absent.
Man City could have Rodri available despite the Spanish midfielder having suffered an ankle injury during their FIFA Club World Cup success over Brazil’s Fluminnse in the final.
Kevin De Bruyne (hamstring), Jeremy Doku (muscle) and Erling Haaland (foot) could feature if fit for selection.
When is Kick-Off?
Everton host Man City on Wednesday 27 December in a 8:15pm GMT kick-off at Goodison Park, live on Amazon Prime in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Everton have claimed just one point from their last 11 league meetings against Man City (D1, L10).
- Man City have won each of their last six league visits to Everton (W6).
- City’s Erling Haaland scored in both appearances against Everton last season (W1, D1).
- No Everton player has produced more passes this season than James Tarkowski, with the defender having made 702 passes in 18 league appearances.
- Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol have made more blocks than any other City player in the top-flight this season, having both produced seven blocks apiece.
Prediction
After a tough Carabao Cup exit last week to Fulham last week, Everton certainly rebounded with a confident attacking performance at Tottenham, where a mixture of small defensive mistakes and undeserved bad luck in their end product worked against them.
Sean Dyche’s Toffees therefore need to take heart from that performance and look to get at Man City from the get-go if want a result here, with the home crowd needing to be at full motivational voice especially after wins over Newcastle and Chelsea on Merseyside this month.
Man City meanwhile comfortably dispatched Fluminense in a clinical yet controlled display which now needs to be a launchpad coming into this game, following one win in their last six league matches which underlines how important it is that they win to keep pace in the title race.
Everton though won’t make things easy given their form but it is hard to see Man City not winning here such is their quality and depth, especially if Haaland is back in the squad.
Prediction: Everton 1-2 Manchester City
Result: Everton 1-3 Manchester City