Saturday 15th October 2016
Kickoff: 1500hrs Manchester City v Everton
Football – England – Premier League
The latest International break has come to a conclusion meaning the domestic action returns to our screens this weekend. The Premier League is back with a bang with a number if intriguing fixtures including Manchester United’s visit to Liverpool and Chelsea hosting last season’s champions Leicester. However, the only game featuring two of the top five takes place at the Etihad with league leaders Manchester City looking to return to winning ways as they host fifth place Everton.
Pep Guardiola won his first 10 games in charge of City when arriving from Bayern Munich this summer but he’s now failed to win either of his last two. A 3-3 draw with Celtic in the Champions League at least preserved their unbeaten record but many people’s favourites for the title came unstuck against Tottenham last time out, going down 2-0 at White Hart Lane. It was a stark reminder that despite the quality they possess, City still has a long way to meet the expectation that has been placed upon them since Guardiola took over. They were thoroughly outplayed against Spurs but remain top of the table by one point and will attempt to get back to winning ways with the visit of Everton on Saturday. No visiting team has left the Etihad with anything thus far – either in the Premier League or European competition – and we know how dominant Guardiola’s teams tend to be on their own patch.
It has been a very good start for Everton under the stewardship of Ronald Koeman for the first time. After what was a bitterly disappointing campaign last time out, where they could only manage an 11th place finish. That, combined with similar disappointments in previous seasons was enough for the Everton board to act and relieve Roberto Martinez of his duties. Koeman has impressed during his time at Southampton and he’s picked up at Goodison where he left off with his previous employers. The Toffees won four of their first five league games, surpassing their best ever start in the top flight. Convincing wins over Sunderland and Middlesbrough looked to set them up perfectly for what appeared to be two winnable games away to Bournemouth and at home to Crystal Palace. That wasn’t to be the case, however, as Everton managed just a point from those fixtures. Nevertheless it has been an excellent beginning and one that will excite their fans again who were becoming disillusioned under Martinez.
As ever with international weeks, City had a plethora of stars away on duty with their countries which makes it difficult for the coach to prepare for the upcoming games. City also face the first of what will be a double header against Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday meaning Guardiola’s selection for the Everton game will be interesting. One man who will almost certainly play in both is the red hot Sergio Aguero, despite being away with Argentina. The little striker has been sensational thus far, scoring 11 goals already, despite missing three games through suspension. He’s struggled against Everton in recent times, though, failing to score in his last three league meetings with them but he did notch when City defeated the Toffees in the League Cup semi-final earlier this year.
One man who epitomized the inconsistency of a Roberto Martinez Everton team was striker Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian striker could look a world class player one week and virtually unplayable, whilst in the next game he would be completely ineffectual. He would go on long spells without scoring a goal before a streak of five or six games where everything he hit went in the net. Koeman appears to have had a positive effect on the big Belgian’s form thus far, with five goals in his first six league games, including a hat-trick away to Sunderland. He’s continued that good form into his international duty, scoring three goals in two qualifying games. It’s somewhat ironic that his country is now managed by Martinez but by continuing to work with Koeman at his club then you feel we will see the best of Lukaku on a consistent basis.
Manchester City v Everton Betting Tips
Whilst it’s somewhat surprising that this game is not televised, there is something about three o’clock kick offs on a Saturday that adds to the excitement with so many big matches played at other points of the week. Although both teams have started the season in a positive manner, their last couple of results will ensure that the determination to get the three points here will be that wee bit more. You can never be sure how the first game back after an international break will go but there is so much attacking talent on show and both coaches will set their teams up to go forward as much as possible.
Recent meetings between the two have tended to be close fought affairs despite the relative wealth of both. Only one of the last five league meetings have been settled by more than one goal and it could be a similar story on Saturday. Everton have only failed to perform in one game this season – the 1-0 loss at Bournemouth – and it is obvious to see how much better organized they are in defence. The addition of Ashley Williams has been a major factor in that and whilst he will have his hands full with Aguero and company, I believe the visitors will be a match for City and continue their record of scoring in all their games this season, bar that defeat two games ago. City have won all three of their home league games thus far but they were made to work for their wins over Sunderland and West Ham, who both managed to breach the home side’s defence. Both teams to score is the selection here and it wouldn’t surprise me either if Everton could score more than one goal.
Both teams to score 8/13 @ Betfred
