Everton (A) - Wed 27th Dec, 20:15 | PL | Pre-Match Thread

[blue whippet]

I have gone for a win primarily because I can't contemplate anything else, it feels like a must win game. It is going to be a tough game and as @jim tolmies perm said above it will give us an idea of how our season will shape up from here on in.

 

[kenbelly]

This might be the first Everton team for a while whom actually have a go at us, I’d like Nunes in the team at some point during the game, he could capitalise on the space left behind.

 

[alexmcity]

Yep this is the acid test of whether we can kick start this season and go on a run

Hope we win the next 3 games in the league, but feel we'll hit form after Newcastle away. Won't be too late, imo. So, I don't think Everton or Newcastle are decisive games. Arsenal have a difficult run-in and tend to finish seasons under Arteta unconvincingly. Liverpool are likely to have problems without Salah. If we are within 5 pts off the top after Liverpool away, we are likely to win, imo.

 

[Rammy Blue]

Hopefully Doucoure and Gueye don’t make it back from injuries, that’d lighten them in the middle. They don’t have much strength in depth.

 

[blue ranger]

Wouldn't be surprised to see the same starting XI as against Fluminense, assuming Rodri is fit to play. Going to be a tough game regardless.

FFS. Happy with Rico Lewis at RB but as a midfielder he just doesn’t cut it imo. I’d start Kovacic or Nunes.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

FFS. Happy with Rico Lewis at RB but as a midfielder he just doesn’t cut it imo. I’d start Kovacic or Nunes.

There are a lot of people on here who are prepared to argue exactly the contrary. Rico is lightning fast at reading the game — it really is his outstanding attribute — and quicker at reacting to it, than either Kova or Nunes. As such, I see him in midfield. Whether he can impose himself physically in midfield is more doubtful. He gets kicked to shit, and his diminutive stature is not going to change that. He's a player with a lot of attributes, who can play in a lot of positions. However, arguably, in none of those positions is he clearly superior to any of the specialists in those positions. That, perhaps, is his problem.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

This might be the first Everton team for a while whom actually have a go at us, I’d like Nunes in the team at some point during the game, he could capitalise on the space left behind.

We have no player as fast at transitioning a game as Kev. The ball is played out to him from the back on the break, and he doesn't need to check ahead of him, and he doesn't need to take a touch most of the time. If someone's free, he just knows. He plays one of those long, raking passes, and Bob Haaland's your uncle. In the rare cases where we have teams come out at us and give it a go, that is where we've been missing him the most. There's nothing for it, I'm sorry to say. We just have to let him recover.

 

[Chi-town blues]

I hope that Alvarez's game tonight will not mask how bad he really has been in the last month and thus create a place for him in the team against the jerks from Everton. I'm asking for more legs in the middle of the pitch, Haaland in the lead to move the entire gravity of the game towards Everton's goal. Someone from Nunes, Kovacic must get a place in the starting 11.

 

[Tuearts right boot]

31 Mar 2018	Everton v Manchester City	W	1-3	Premier League
15 Dec 2018	Manchester City v Everton	W	3-1	Premier League
06 Feb 2019	Everton v Manchester City	W	0-2	Premier League
28 Sep 2019	Everton v Manchester City	W	1-3	Premier League
01 Jan 2020	Manchester City v Everton	W	2-1	Premier League
17 Feb 2021	Everton v Manchester City	W	1-3	Premier League
20 Mar 2021	Everton v Manchester City	W	0-2	FA Cup
23 May 2021	Manchester City v Everton	W	5-0	Premier League
21 Nov 2021	Manchester City v Everton	W	3-0	Premier League
26 Feb 2022	Everton v Manchester City	W	0-1	Premier League
31 Dec 2022	Manchester City v Everton	D	1-1	Premier League
14 May 2023	Everton v Manchester City	W	0-3	Premier League

Rememeber when they were our bogey team.....

 

[kippax_blueboy]

Win every game from now on.