14 hours Ago By The Independent
host in the this afternoon, with ’s side looking for what would be just their second win in the last 13 games. The Cityzens , and they in the Premier League. Nevertheless, despite their struggles, they are only four points of fourth, with a win today potentially an important step as they look to secure Champions League football And Everton make the short journey east off against two of the league’s top sides in Arsenal and Chelsea, with ’s men having climbed up to 15th, four points With City struggling for goals and Everton seemingly adept at preventing them, it could be an interesting encounter at the start of Boxing Day.
Manchester City host Everton in the Premier League, with kick-off at 12.30pm | Live on Amazon Prime City have one win in their last 12 after last week’s loss to Aston Villa Everton have drawn 0-0 with Chelsea and Arsenal over their last two matches Man City XI: Ortega; Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol; Kovacic, Bernardo; Savinho, Foden, Doku Haaland Everton XI: Pickford; Coleman, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Mangala, Gueye, Doucoure; Harrison, Calvert-Lewin, Ndiaye , It’s our senior football correspondent at the Etihad covering the game for us today before he races across to Liverpool for Arne Slot’s Reds vs Leicester at 8pm. A busy day for Rich - we don’t let him rest, even at Christmas.
.. Here’s his pre-match thoughts on this one.
Can Manchester City win a game? They always used to. Now they only have one victory in 12 and are up against Sean Dyche’s draw specialists. A City team without the ill Kyle Walker, the injured Jack Grealish and the omitted Ilkay Gundogan at least looks younger, with Jeremy Doku and Savinho potentially offering verve on the wings.
Everton are younger, too, with Seamus Coleman, at 36, coming in for 39-year-old Ashley Young. , These two sides have met 181 times, with City winning 76, Everton winning 60, and 45 ending as draws. Last season, City were victorious in both meetings, winning 3-1 at Goodison just under a year ago before a straightforward 2-0 home win in February.
, Manchester City’s miserable run continued at the weekend as they were beaten at Aston Villa. It was a ninth defeat in 12 games in all competitions and they sit seventh in the at Christmas, a remarkable slump for the champions of the past four seasons. Here, the PA news agency looks at what comes next for Pep Guardiola’s side and how they can turn the situation around.
, Not too many surprises in the line-ups today. Rico Lewis gets the start at right-back for Man City, with Bernardo Silva set to play alongside Mateo Kovacic in the middle and Phil Foden continuing in the No 10 role, flanked by Savinho and Jeremy Doku. At some point, Erling Haaland will explode with a hat-trick or similar - could that be today? For Everton, Seamus Coleman starts at right-back in place of the suspended Ashley Young in the only change from the side that drew 0-0 with Chelsea.
Ortega; Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol; Kovacic, Bernardo; Savinho, Foden, Doku, Haaland Pickford; Coleman, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Mangala, Gueye, Doucoure; Harrison, Calvert-Lewin, Ndiaye , Here are today’s teams Your Boxing Day City side 🩵 XI | Ortega Moreno, Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Bernardo (C), Savinho, Foden, Doku, Haaland SUBS | Carson, Brits, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Simpson-Pusey, Mubama, Alleyne, O'Reilly, McAtee | — Manchester City (@ManCity) Your Toffees to face ! 🔵 — Everton (@Everton) , The line-ups should be released in around five minutes, so not long to wait now , has called on his team-mates to “stick together” following their sixth defeat of the season against Aston Villa. City’s latest loss came at the hands of Aston Villa, who ran out 2-1 winners over the current champions to hand them a ninth loss from their last 12 matches in all competitions. Pep Guardiola’s side went behind courtesy of goals from and Morgan Rogers, with Phil Foden’s last-minute consolation not enough to rescue anything from another sub-par performance.
, An obsessive Spanish manager had taken his adopted club to rare heights. Then came a chastening spell of 11 games, littered with setbacks, sending his team tumbling down the table, bringing their ambitions into question. But this victory was emphatic and impressive, offering relief and respite.
A slump may be over. But not for . Because, for and , came to town.
They were duly and deservedly beaten. Second best in the Second City, they suffered their ninth defeat in 12 matches. Villa had lost six in 11 since they went top of the Champions League.
Like City, they had conceded a quickfire double to conjure defeat when they could have won last week. But in a battle of the beleaguered, City lost. Now they always do.
It is their strange new normality. For Guardiola, it doesn’t get better. It just gets worse.
It wouldn’t be a weekend without someone chanting “sacked in the morning” at him and he heard a familiar song. It has become the soundtrack to a slide. , Man City XI: Ortega; Lewis, Akanji, Simpson-Pusey, Gvardiol; Gundogan, Kovacic; Silva, Foden, Doku; Haaland.
Everton XI: Pickford; Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Mangala, Gueye, Doucoure; Harrison, Calvert-Lewin, Ndiaye. Everton have frustrated the league’s top sides in recent weeks, and with City struggling to score goals over their last few games, this could be another frustrating match for Pep Guardiola and his side. , For Everton, Dwight McNeil could return after missing the draw against Chelsea, while Armando Broja is available again after being unable to face his parent club.
Timothy Iroegbunam and James Garner remain out. Orel Mangala, Idrissa Gueye and Abdoulaye Doucouré will likely continue in midfield, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin leading the line. , Ruben Dias the latest City player to be ruled out for a few weeks.
After the loss to Villa, Guardiola confirmed that John Stones picked up an injury, and he will likely miss this match. The Spaniard previously said that Jahmai Simpson-Pusey could deputise at centre-back if needed. In his pre-match conference, Guardiola added that he did not yet know whether Ederson and Matheus Nunes will be available after they missed the game against Villa.
Much of the side will likely be the same as last week, with Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan anchoring midfield and three of the four of Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne likely to feature in the more attacking roles. , The match kicks off at 12.30pm GMT on Boxing Day, Thursday, 26 December at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.
Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on Amazon Prime Video, with the streaming service showing every Boxing Day fixture in the Premier League. , host on Thursday afternoon in the first of the ’s Boxing Day fixtures. ’s side fell to defeat away to Aston Villa last week, and that makes it one wins in their last 12 matches across all competitions.
The Cityzens sit in seventh in the table, though despite their struggles they are only four points off Nottingham Forest in fourth. And they face an Everton side who have fought to successive 0-0 draw against Arsenal and Chelsea, with ’s men having climbed up to 15th, four points above the relegation zone. The Toffees have improved in defence, stifling some of the league’s top sides in recent weeks, and present a potential stumbling block to a City side who are struggling for goals at the moment.
, Good morning and welcome to live coverage of today’s Premier League match between Manchester City and Everton. Pep Guardiola’s side are desperate for a win after just one in their last 12 wins, while Everton will look to frustrate the hosts as they aim to climb further away from the relegation zone. We’ll have all the latest build-up, team news and updates here.
.
