The last time Manchester City played the Premier League’s Saturday late game, they slipped up at Norwich City, losing 3-2 in a terrible defensive performance.
Manchester City will kick off on Saturday at Goodison Park against Everton five hours after Liverpool begin play at Sheffield United. Could a Liverpool win put negative pressure on the Cityzens?
Everton are 14th in the league having had a disappointing start to the season. The Toffees have won twice with both victories coming at Goodison Park. However, Marco Silva has watched his team lose three of its last four matches.
Silva has spent money at Goodison Park, yet Everton are going backwards in results. Everton have scored just one goal in the last 180 minutes of football.
Manchester City squashed Watford a week ago with an 8-0 victory. The Cityzens followed it up with a 3-0 win over Preston North End in the Carabao Cup. Pep Guardiola’s team has been rampant but the last time they played after Liverpool in the league, they struggled mightily.
Guardiola has defensive issues. Aymeric Laporte is out until the new year. His absence has been significant. Despite the last three Manchester City wins in all competitions, they could struggle against good Premier League attacking teams.
John Stones is still out of action with a thigh injury. His absence led Guardiola to draft defensive midfielder Fernandinho into central defence next to Nicolas Otamendi.
The latter is a defensive mistake waiting to happen and with an inexperienced centre-back next to him, Everton could get through the rearguard like Norwich City did.
Everton defensive midfielders Andre Gomes and Jean-Philippe Gbamin are both sidelined with injuries. The duo will play no part limiting Silva’s options in midfield.
The Toffees have lacked goals this season with Ricarlison, Moise Kean, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Cenk Tosun, and Alex Iwobi managing just four league goals between them. Everton have tallied just five goals this term for an average of 0.8 per match.
Manchester City, on the other hand, lead the Premier League in goals with 24 scored. The Cityzens average four goals per match. Manchester City have scored over 2.5 goals on their own four times in six league matches,
Everton’s scoring issues will damage any hopes of picking up a win on Saturday at home against Manchester City. Even with the Cityzens defensive injuries and Liverpool playing earlier in the day, Guardiola will lead the them to victory over a poor Everton side.
Expect over 2.5 goals to be scored as both teams manage to find the back of the net. However, Manchester City will prevail at Goodison Park and continue their four-match unbeaten run against Everton.