Matheus Nunes is getting into good positions and trying to drive the Blues forward, but the final ball is lacking. Jack Grealish forces England teammate Jordan Pickford into a save with an opportunistic toepoke as City try to force the issue. Senior Football Writer Tyrone Marshall:"Nunes getting into some good position so far, making some bright runs forward and stretching the defence, but his end product has been lacking. He missed that excellent chance a few minutes ago and his touch let him down on that occasion. You can see why Guardiola picked him ahead of Lewis and Kovacic, however. "20:30Joe Bray15' - City should be aheadAs much as City are looking to get the ball down and switch play, Everton are also doing relatively well in forcing their visitors to play long at times.
"It wasn't a winter break, nice weather. Lots of team bonding. The games were a lot more difficult than poeople thoughts. We won the last game 4-0, but there were really good teams, a different experience. "We know how tought it will be here tonight. They're the most in form team, they got beat the other day, but we know what they're all about. We got the win last year but knew how difficult it was. Focus on ourselves, and I'm sure we'll get three points. We want to come here to win, we've won one in six, we want to come here and win and play good football.
9 to be fit for the league game at Newcastle in the middle of the month, although preferably some minutes in the FA Cup against Huddersfield in 11 days would tee him up for that. "Senior Football Writer Tyrone Marshall:"We’ve just had Everton fan and Ryder Cup winner Tommy Fleetwood on the pitch showing off the trophy. Now staff are setting up the Premier League paraphernalia on the pitch ahead of the famous anthem, which I’m sure will prove to be really popular in all four sides of this ground tonight. "19:58Tyrone MarshallEderson ends warm-up earlySenior Football Writer Tyrone Marshall:"Ederson has gone down the tunnel early here. Might be something of nothing, but interesting nonetheless.
Worryingly, John Stones goes down after stopping Beto getting a shot away when through on goal. Beto was clearly offside, but the flag stayed down, and Stones is now down and in some discomfort. This is always the fear when officials don't flag for clear offsides. Chief City Writer Simon Bajkowski:"Guardiola is animated on the touchline, wanting more from his team at both ends of the pitch. They have been creating some promising opportunities but are lacking the person to stand up and be a goalscorer for them with Haaland injured. "City don’t appear to have an out ball at the minute. They’ve been pulled out of shape and are struggling to hold onto the ball.
These two sets of fans are united by their hatred for the Premier League and their financial rules, but Everton supporters (and some club officials) have also taken aim at City after their 10-point deduction for breaching the league’s Profit and Sustainability rules, claiming it’s double standards that City haven’t been dealt with. "The difference in the complexities of the case are pretty obvious to anyone actually bothered by the truth of the matter. Everton have played with a sense of anger since the decision was handed down and their fans have turned up the volume at Goodison Park, uniting behind their team rather than getting on their backs.
A passage of play sees both sides booting the ball to each other, but Phil Foden does pick up possession and fire just over to restore a bit of that control. With the wind howling, it is probably unwise to get into a direct contest with Everton. After that, City should be ahead. Foden plays Nunes into space with only Pickford to beat from 12 yards. Pickford does well to save, but the shot is straight at him. On the follow up, the goalkeeper gets up to deny Alvarez - who also aimed his shot straight at the England goalkeeper.
"Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag (Image: Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)18:27Simon BajkowskiCity can't afford another slip-up after recent results in the title raceChief City Writer Simon Bajkowski:"Liverpool’s game with Arsenal scheduled during the Club World Cup guaranteed one of them would drop points, and a draw worked out perfectly for City.
He hasn’t started a Premier League since September 30 and this is a big night to throw him into, with Everton likely to be aggressive from the off under Sean Dyche. "It will be interesting to hear why Guardiola has gone for Nunes, but at a guess maybe his dribbling ability and that skill to take players out of the game when he carries the ball is being sought tonight. "Matheus Nunes of Manchester City vs Crvena Zvezda19:15KEY EVENTCity team news confirmedStarts for Nunes and Akanji. No Ruben Dias with the squad. Chief City Writer Simon Bajkowski:Ruben Dias is missing with illness, to add to the three injured player - De Bruyne, Haaland and Doku.
"19:28Simon BajkowskiMidfield is to be expected with injuries and absencesChief City Writer Simon Bajkowski:"With the absentees, that is just about to be expected. The biggest surprise in the team is probably Nunes, who starts ahead of Lewis and Kovacic in that midfield. Nunes was enterprising in the semi-final of the Club World Cup and as City return back to England he has the chance to start again in the Premier League. "The last league match he started was Wolves away, where he was hooked at half-time after a brutal reception at the club he literally walked out on to push through a summer move. "19:27Tyrone MarshallTonight is a big night for Nunes after his Club World Cup performanceSenior Football Writer Tyrone Marshall:"This is a big night for Matheus Nunes, who had an excellent game against Urawa Red Diamonds in the Club World Cup semi-final but was then left out for the final against Fluminense.
CITY XI: Ederson, Walker (c), Stones, Akanji, Ake, Rodri, Nunes, Bernardo, Foden, Grealish, Alvarez. SUBS: Ortega, Phillips, Kovacic, Gomez, Gvardiol, Bobb, Susoho, Lewis, Hamilton. Follow below for pre-match build-up, live match updates and post-match reaction from Goodison Park, and find out how to watch it. 21:04Joe BrayHalf time ratingsEderson 7Walker 6Stones 6Akanji 4Ake 7Rodri 5Nunes 6Foden 6Silva 6Grealish 7Alvarez 5Chief City Writer Simon Bajkowski:"Stones coming off means one of City’s more fruitful partnerships has been canned. Ake and Grealish were looking decent down the left but Ake has now come inside with Gvardiol behind Grealish. "21:03Joe BrayHT - City trail at half-timeCity started well and created the chances, but a mixture of poor finishing and poor defending has them trailing at the break.
The lapses of concentration that led to Jack Harrison scoring won't please Pep Guardiola, but he'll also know this game is far from over. More concerning is the loss of Jpohn Stones through injury. It was a needless injury as Beto was so clearly offside but the officials let play go on. It's been a matter of time before one of those decisions leads to an injury, and it's awful luck for Stones that it's him who has suffered another setback. Work to do for City after the break. It's one win in seven as it stands. Jack Harrison of Everton scores against Manchester City20:58Joe Bray43' - Stones has to be replacedStones can continue, thankfully, but he really didn't look happy when he went down and Beto fell on him.
Beto was clearly offside. The refusal of the linesman to put his flag up has led to the loss of a key player for City. "20:51Joe Bray36' - Stones injury concernRodri tried to get his side level and make up for his costly errors, but his side-footed effort is well over. Everton come again and win a corner, with Ederson needed to produce a great save from Harrison's outside-of-the-boot effort that was bound for the top corner. The home fans have woken up now.
He’s been good for half-an-hour, but his heavy touch gave possession to Everton in midfield, then he was too weak under pressure from McNeil and put Everton into a great position. City barely been troubled until then, but that’s now eight Premier League games without a clean sheet. "20:40Joe Bray25' - Nunes getting in good positions, but no end productEverton are pressing well and keeping City in their own half. It will open up spaces for City, but also increase the chance of the hosts grabbing a goal.
Matheus Nunes makes his first league start since Wolves away. 19:04Simon BajkowskiRodri in the squad and Grealish starts for CityThis is the squad who have just arrived at Goodison Park. Rodri is fit after his injury scare at the Club World Cup. Ortega, Ederson, Gomez, Gvardiol, Walker, Ake, Akanji, Phillips, Stones, Susoho, Lewis, Rodri, Silva, Nunes, Kovacic, Bobb, Hamilton, Grealish, Alvarez, FodenWe can also confirm that Jack Grealish starts for City tonight vs Everton.
Aston Villa have also stumbled after their victories over City and Arsenal. That all won’t mean much if City can’t make teams pay for slipping up by winning their games, something they simply haven’t done enough of lately. "Premier League trophy (Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)18:17Simon BajkowskiGuardiola has lashed out at criticism of City's poor run of formChief City Writer Simon Bajkowski:"More siege mentality from Guardiola in Jeddah, lashing out at the reaction to City’s one win in six games. It feels like most of the commentators around City is still centred on people refusing to rule them out of the title race despite their domestic form, but it is clearly an opinion being pushed in the squad to feel like they are being unfairly treated. "18:08Tyrone MarshallEverton and City both have similar issues with the Premier League - but the two cases are very differentSenior Football Writer Tyrone Marshall:"It could be quite a strange atmosphere tonight.
The Blues have won one of their last six league games, so are hoping to take their two Club World Cup wins back into domestic action to kick-start their season. Pep Guardiola said the World Cup win was the end of an era at City, with every trophy on offer in the trophy cabinet since his arrival in 2016. However, he said he is now ready to open another book and start a second era in charge at the Etihad - starting at Everton, who are revitalised under Sean Dyche since their 10-point deduction from the Premier League. Guardiola is without Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku, and Kevin De Bruyne tonight as they continue to recover from their injuries, while Ruben Dias is also missing due to illness.
"19:34Joe BrayGuardiola: Haaland won't return until JanuaryPep Guardiola tells Amazon Prime that Erling Haaland won't return until January, ruling him out of the clash with Sheffield United at the weekend. He says:“Still he’s not with the team. He feels better with his bone but he hasn’t made one training session with us. Unfortunately December is so congested with so many teams. January is so congested. Hopefully in January he can come back with us. ” On Kevin De Bruyne: “He's coming back. Last week he trained with us, today he had a little bit of fatigue because he’s training hard but of course he's so important for us, like Erling.
(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)18:57Joe BrayUnited finding form againChief City Writer Simon Bajkowski:"City have two games in hand on their nearest rivals but it has still been alarming for some fans to see United come within three points of them given the gulf between the clubs looked as big as ever when they met at Old Trafford. That won’t be the main motivation for Guardiola’s side but it will still be calming for some supporters to see City pull away again.
Everton vs Man City LIVE! Premier League match stream 1 hour ago — Everton vs Man City LIVE! Premier League match stream, latest score and goal updates today. Jack Harrison haunts old club with opening goal.
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