Manchester City vs Everton LIVE Football Score 31 Dec 2022
Arsenal’s excellence means that despite a very strong start to the season, Man City find themselves five points adrift from the top.
Thirty-five points from a possible 45 is a phenomenal start, but a defeat to Brentford before the break has been very costly.
Over the course of a 38-game season though, City are still the most fancied side to finish on top.
That is largely thanks to the presence of Erling Braut Haaland up front, who made it 20 Premier League goals for the season already in their 3-1 win over Leeds United on Wednesday, the fastest it has taken anyone to reach that milestone in a campaign.
Strength in depth is the other major factor, as manager Pep Guardiola could afford to leave Phil Foden, Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva and Aymeric Laporte on the bench in midweek, and still win comfortably.
They have beaten Everton in all of their last 10 meetings, but the last meeting at Goodison in February proved very controversial when City took all three points despite avoiding a very clear penalty being given against them following a handball by Rodri.
Four straight losses in all competitions for Everton, all against sides in around the relegation zone, have left Lampard on the brink at Goodison Park.
Leicester City came to Goodison and beat them convincingly before Bournemouth completed a league and cup double over the Toffees in the space of a few days before the World Cup break, scoring seven goals across the two games.
On their competitive return, bottom-of-the-table Wolverhampton Wanderers compiled the misery by coming to Merseyside and leaving with three points thanks to a 95th-minute winner from Rayan Ait-Nouri.
They are not yet in the relegation zone, but a defeat here and the continuation of some amateurish defending in their recent matches will leave them very susceptible, with the three sides below them all within reach.
Next week’s fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion is expected to be the make or break for Lampard given that there has been an acceptance they will probably lose at the Etihad in this one.
However, if they do lose here, they must make sure the scoreline does not get ugly and play with the desire of a side that looks prepared for a relegation battle, which Lampard admitted they are now in following the defeat to Wolves.
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Stones, Laporte, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo Silva; Mahrez, Haaland, Foden
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Patterson, Coady, Tarkowski, Mykolenko; Onana, Gueye, Iwobi; Gordon, Maupay, Gray
