Match preview
Manchester City will look to extend their record of 16 straight wins in all competitions when they travel to Goodison Park to face-off with Everton on Wednesday night. Following a rather tough start to the season, the Citizens have hit a purple patch and look to be on course to run away with the Premier League title, come the end of the season. At the moment, it does not look like any of the clubs in the competition has what it takes to beat Pep Guardiola's men who could go 10 points clear atop the table should the result favor them at Merseyside. They enter the mid-week's encounter soaring in confidence, having successfully cruised past Tottenham Hotspur over the weekend.
In what was a 3-0 win for the Citizens, the prime observation that was made was that they remain unperturbed by the absence of attacking duo Sergio Aguero and Kevin as a few more players have stepped up to serve up the ghost. Ilkay Gundogan has particularly been the go-to-guy for all of City's most recent goals. Indeed, his contribution has proved significant as his side has won every single one of the nine successive games he has scored in. In the grand scheme of things, City's away form should also serve them with enough motivation ahead of the trip to Goodison Park. Of the 10 matches they have featured in, they have won seven and have secured two draws, with just one defeat.
With Everton proving to be inconsistent in recent times, one could easily see the result favoring Pep Guardiola's men. Carlo Ancelotti's men, having been hailed as potential title contenders at the beginning of the season, have slowly drifted away from the cause. The Toffees come into the encounter off the back of a difficult run that resulted in them picking up just one win in their last five Premier League matches.
Over the weekend, their struggle was further compounded by Scott Parker's Fulham side who staged what was arguably their best performance thus far in the league to condemn the Merseysiders to defeat. Carlo Ancelotti's men now sit in seventh position - five points behind fourth-placed Chelsea. With their Premier League top-four aspirations now hanging in the balance, a win over Manchester City will make a bigger statement while concurrently ruining their incredible haul of wins. But that will mean getting past the Etihad outfit's robust defensive unit that has given away just five goals during their last 16 wins. They have kept 11 clean sheets and have scored 43 goals as well.
Team news
Everton will not have Dominic Calvert-Lewin leading their lines as he continues to recover from a niggling hamstring injury. However, there is a boost among the ranks with Jordan Pickford making a return after a rib injury. Allan is also back after missing almost two months of football action while the availability of James Rodriguez is yet to be known after he limped off in the defeat to Fulham.
For Manchester City, Sergio Aguero still remains out of contention. Meanwhile, Kevin De Bruyne has made significant progress in his recovery journey but is not expected to travel to Goodison Park. Nathan Ake is completely ruled out.
Predicted starting XI
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Everton possible starting lineup: Pickford; Godfrey, Keane, Holgate, Digne; Doucoure, Davies; Iwobi, Sigurdsson, Richarlison; King
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Manchester City possible starting lineup: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Stones, Cancelo; Rodri, Silva, Foden; Mahrez, Jesus, Sterling
Broadcast information
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
