Manchester City vs. Everton: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview

Manchester City were riding high after a blowout victory over rival Manchester United a couple of weeks ago. Now, the title contenders are reeling after back-to-back losses and must try to get back on track against an in-form Everton side.

City allowed three second-half goals to Aston Villa in a frustrating defeat last weekend and were no match for Bayern Munich in a midweek Champions League clash. They must turn things around before the string of losses turns into a prolonged slump.

Everton won't make it easy on them, however. The Toffees are the only Premier League club without a loss through six matches. Roberto Martinez has done a nice job of getting the players to buy into his style of play, and it's working well in the early going.

Let's check out all the important viewing information for the marquee clash, followed by a breakdown of the top storyline and a match prediction.

Where: Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England

When: Saturday, Oct. 5 at 7:45 a.m. ET (12:45 p.m. BST)

Watch: NBC Sports Network and BT Sport 1

Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra

Match Forecast (via Bloomberg Sports)

Manchester City: 53.5 percent

Everton: 22.3 percent

Draw: 24.2 percent

Top Storyline: Can Everton take advantage of Manchester City's recent drop in form?

Everton can't match the overall talent level of the Premier League's top squads. Martinez understood that when he arrived and implemented a system based more on possession, the benefits of which were shown in a 1-0 triumph over Chelsea.

Those are the type of matches the Toffees must play against strong sides if they are going to challenge for a European berth. Defend and control the pace first, then rely on Romelu Lukaku to use his physical advantage to create chances on the attack.

Everton are catching City at the right time. The Sky Blues will likely be very aggressive right from the opening whistle as they attempt to put the brief losing skid behind them, which puts the onus on the Toffees' back line at the outset.

But if they can survive that initial surge, City will become frustrated and that should create opportunities on the counterattack for Everton. And Joe Hart has failed to bail them out in situations like that over the past two seasons after playing a key role when City won the title.

So Everton have a real chance to emerge from Etihad Stadium with at least a draw. They just have to make sure City aren't able to build some early confidence with a strike from Stevan Jovetic, Edin Dzeko or another one of their talented forwards.

Prediction

City are the better side, all things considered, and are playing at home. Normally, this would be a match where they should earn three points with relative ease, especially if they were still playing at the level they used to beat United.

That isn't the case, though. City have dropped off a bit, and Everton are playing very well. That should be enough for the Toffees to keep their unbeaten run in league play alive. Emerging with a draw would be another confidence boost for the overlooked squad.

Manchester City 1, Everton 1