The State of Play
Everton felt a sense of injustice away at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. Not only did they play extremely well without reward, key moments in the game went against them. After going 2-0 down early on, the Toffees rallied and thought they had a goal back early in the second half through Dominic Calvert-Lewin, only for it to be disallowed for a foul earlier in the move following VAR intervention.
Although Everton never gave up and did get their goal eight minutes from time, they failed to salvage in the game and their run of four straight Premier League wins came to an end. Victory for Luton Town over Newcastle leaves Everton four points clear of the bottom three heading into Christmas.
Read our other football previews here:
Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton Preview
Liverpool vs Arsenal Preview
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Chelsea
Manchester City made history in Saudi Arabia last Friday, beating South American champions Fluminense 4-0 to lift the FIFA Club World Cup for the very first time. The result caps a truly memorable year which has seen Pep Guardiola’s side lift five major titles. Julian Alvarez scored twice in the win, with Phil Foden also finding the net.
However, the Premier League holders have serious work to do domestically with them currently not even inside the top four due to just one win in their last six league games. The gap between themselves and top spot could be as high as eight points by the time they take to the pitch at Goodison Park depending on results elsewhere.
Team News
Sean Dyche faces an anxious wait regarding a number of players ahead of this encounter with up to three players facing late fitness tests. Seamus Coleman, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Ashley Young will all be assessed ahead of kick-off, but midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye is expected to miss out after suffering an injury at the weekend.
While Erling Haaland has returned to training, question marks remain over the fitness of Man City’s star striker, who didn’t feature at all across the Club World Cup. Key midfielder Rodri was on the end of an extremely poor tackle vs Fluminense, but escaped without injury and has confirmed that he is available for selection. This match will likely come too soon for both Jeremy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne.
???? Guardiola asked if Haaland and Doku are back in training and if they’ll be available for Gameweek 19: “I don’t know [for] Everton, I’m not thinking about that. I have time to think for [that game], honestly.”#fpl #mcfc #bgw18 #gw19 #cwc #ClubWorldCup #EveMci
— FPL News (@1fplnews) December 21, 2023
Expected Line-ups
Everton: Pickford; Patterson, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Harrison, Onana, Gomes, Garner, McNeil; Calvert-Lewin
Man City: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol; Stones, Rodri; Bernardo Silva, Foden, Grealish; Alvarez
What they Said
Everton boss Dyche on his side’s disallowed goal against Tottenham: “”We were outstanding after their second goal. We did everything we could to win the game, but today a massive decision goes against us. The referee has a great view, linesman has a great view, then VAR re-referees the game. For me, the game is in a terrible state for fouls and the VAR is finding a way to give fouls. I’m not in there to have a go at refs, but you can’t take away the referee’s instinct.”
Manchester City midfielder Rodri on the challenge he suffered in the Club World Cup final: “I was very lucky today. It was one of the worst tackles in my career. I was so scared because I felt my knee but fortunately it was nothing. Today, I won more than a trophy, I go home safe but I was very close to crying. I felt very worried but it is nothing.”
When and How to Watch
The game at Goodison Park will kick off at 20:15 on Wednesday December 27th and will be shown live on subscription service Amazon Prime in the UK.
Prediction
The newly crowned world champions will step into a baptism of fire at Goodison Park, always a tough place to go for any away side in the Premier League. But this Manchester City, no doubt re-energised by their triumph in Jeddah, should come out of the traps quickly here and put Everton under severe pressure.
The Toffees have the firepower going forward to hurt Man City as they showed against Tottenham, but the all-round ability of Man City and the strength-in-depth within their squad are expected to do just enough to edge out the hosts by two goals to one.
