Manchester City v Everton: Game Guide, Team News, Predicted Line-ups

Roberto Mancini's men will be eager to show that their 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage was little more than a temporary blip against a resilient Fulham team.

The Citizens currently rest second in the Premier League, however they are the first to blink against cross city rivals Manchester United.

Everton on the other hand are fighting a battle of their own. Having lost Mikel Arteta at the last possible moment, the Toffees have had to adapt to Premier League life without their star player.

So far, David Moyes' men have continued to outperform the investment put into the squad, but against Manchester City they will face their biggest test of the season to date.

The fixture is one of the oldest, and tightly contested, in Premier League history and it has unsurprisingly yielded some shock statistics. Read on to find out more...

Manchester City Form Guide

Manchester City:

League Position: 2^nd

Form: WWWWD

Key Player: David Silva

Roberto Mancini’s men will be disappointed at the manner in which they dropped two points against Fulham, but the Citizens have nonetheless had a scintillating start to the season thus far.

Sergio Aguero has slotted perfectly into the Manchester City attack and has already formed a menacing quartet alongside David Silva, Samir Nasri and Edin Dzeko.

Everton Form Guide

League Position: 7^th

Form: LWDW

Key Player: Tim Cahill

Local rivals Liverpool may be dominating the headlines but Everton have found themselves one position above their counterparts, with a game in hand.

David Moyes’ team have endured a testing start to the season, which included a home defeat to QPR in their first league match of the season. The deadline day loss of star player Mikel Arteta added to the club’s woes, but they have since managed to score five goals in two games.

Last Season's Encounter

Everton secured a league double against Manchester City last season, defeating them 2-1 in both league encounters.

The last time the two sides met at the Etihad Stadium, a victory against Everton would have sent Manchester City to the top of the Premier League over Christmas. An early goal by Tim Cahill thwarted such plans.

A second goal by Leighton Baines meant Manchester saw the Citizens go into half time trailing 2-0.  A 72^nd minute strike from Yaya Toure was not enough to rescue a point for City.

Head to Head History

It will be the 157^th league meeting between the two clubs.

Manchester City has won 58 of the previous encounters.

Everton has also won 58, including the previous five matches.

There have been 39 draws.

Manchester City has not beaten the Toffees in the league since Saturday, April 25^th 2009. Goals from Stephen Ireland and Robson De Souza helped sink David Moyes’ men 2-1 at Goodison Park.  

Manchester City have not beat Everton at home since New Year’s Day 2007, thanks to a brace by Georgios Samaras.  

Roberto Mancini v. David Moyes

Played: 4

Won: 0

Lost: 4

Drew: 0                  

7^th May 2011: Everton 2 – 1 Manchester City

20^th December 2010: Manchester City 1 – 2 Everton

24^th March 2010: Manchester City 0 – 2 Everton

16^th January 2010: Everton 2 – 0 Manchester City

Team News

Nigel De Jong and James Milner are both injury doubts for Manchester City.

Milner is suffering from concussion and De Jong has an ankle/foot injury. No return date has been set for either, according to physioroom.com.

Victor Anichebe is out for Everton. The striker has a groin strain and is ruled out until mid-December.

There are currently no suspended players on either team.

Manchester City: Predicted Line Up

Joe Hart

Micah Richards

Vincent Kompany

Joleon Lescott

Alexsander Kolarov

Gareth Barry

Yaya Toure

Samir Nasri

David Silva

Sergio Aguero

Edin Dzeko

Everton: Predicted Line Up

Tim Howard

Phil Neville

Leighton Baines

Phil Jagielka

Sylvain Distin

Seamus Coleman

Royston Drenthe

Tim Cahill

Leon Osman

Maroune Fellaini

Jack Rodwell