It may seem weird to be posting a Manchester City versus Everton FC preview tonight, five days (ok, in most of the world, four days) before the match is staged.
Not to mention that 14 other Premier League fixtures will be staged between when this article is published and when this match actually transpires. However, given the craziness of the festive period fixture congestion, this is literally the only match that is makes sense to preview next.
Manchester City at Everton FC FYIs
Kickoff: Wed. Dec 27, 8:15pm GMT, Goodison Park
Man City Content: Starting XI Prediction Team News
Fun Fact: With the CWC, Pep Guardiola has now won 14 trophies at City: 5 Premier League, 2 FA Cups, 4 League Cups, 1 Champions League and 1 Super Cup.
Google Probability: Man City Win 60% Draw 23% Everton Win 17%
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
PL Form: Man City DWLDD Everton WWWWL
PL Standing: Man City 4th, 34 pts, Everton 16th, 16 pts
Having claimed the Club World Cup title earlier tonight, City are now off until Wednesday, and that is our rule- we don’t preview the next match for a team until they have already played their most recent game. It’s not fair otherwise.
And everyone else has matches to play this weekend, before we get to the Boxing Day round of fixtures. So here we are. With the Club World Cup win, Pep Guardiola reflected on all that he has accomplished at The Etihad.
“When I close the chapter, it’s for eight years of incredible work behind the scenes,” he said
“I had a feeling all the titles you can win, we have done it. It’s unbelievable what we have done. We try to buy a new book and start to write beautiful histories.
“The players out there are still hungry and motivated, I’m really pleased for many people in the club for many years. I could never think when we arrived in Manchester we could do this and finish with the World Cup.”
So with that in mind, let’s take a look at who he might select for his first team in this midweek league clash.
Manchester City Starting XI Prediction at Everton FC
Ederson; Kyle Walker, Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake; Mateo Kovacic, Rodri; Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden; Julian Alvarez
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.