Man City vs. Everton: Why Jack Grealish absence is a “massive blow” for Toffees as Pep Guardiola is handed “minor miracle” boost

The absence of Everton’s “main man” Jack Grealish is a “massive blow” for the Toffees ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole.

After falling down the pecking order under Man City manager Pep Guardiola, Grealish decided to join Everton on a season-long loan deal in the summer in a bid to revitalise his career, and the 30-year-old has made an electric start to life on the blue side of Merseyside.

The left-sided attacker was named August’s Premier League Player of the Month after registering four assists on the way to helping the Toffees win two of their opening three top-flight games.

Only Tottenham’s Mohammed Kudus has provided more assists in this season’s Premier League than Grealish, who scored his first Everton goal in second-half stoppage time to secure a dramatic 2-1 comeback win for the Toffees against Crystal Palace at the Hill Dickinson Stadium before the international break.

Everton currently sit eighth in the Premier League table and will travel to the Etihad this weekend in high spirits, but they will have to cope without Grealish who is ineligible to face his parent club.

Commenting on Grealish’s absence and his start to life at Everton, McInerney told Sports Mole: “Grealish has been their best player. Obviously, it's a loan so he can't play against his parent club. I don't like that, by the way, I think players should be able to play against the club.

“I've never understood that rule. They're not going to just jeopardise their own career by playing poorly for the other side. They're out on loan, they want to prove something to the managers.

‘Grealish suits being the star at a club that isn't full of stars’

“It’s a massive blow (for Everton to be without Grealish against Man City). He’s got the joint-most assists this season in the Premier League and he is revelling in his time at Everton. Maybe a similar-scenario feeling to where Aston Villa were. Obviously very different clubs, but Everton this season are doing as well as Villa did when he was there, put it that way.

“I think he suits that (level). I don't mean to sound patronising at all because Everton are not a small pond, but he's a big fish in a small pond. I think he suits being the star at a club that maybe isn't full of stars.

“Everton have got a lot of quality players, I would never pretend to patronise them, because I'm aware of where City have come from, but he's a bigger name than Thierno Barry, Tyler Dibling, [Iliman] Ndiaye, Idrissa Gueye, [James] Tarkowski, or [Jordan] Pickford. He's a bigger name than all of them, clearly.

“[Grealish is] the guy who's got a Champions League winning medal, he's got a treble, he's won multiple leagues and he's the kind of guy, emotionally, that loves a club like Everton because he's come from Villa.

“He would have probably done better at City when we're in the Maine Road days, because Jack Grealish is the working man's footballer. I don't mean to patronise there, but he is literally Jack the lad in every sense. I think he's loving his time at Everton and I'm genuinely happy for him.

Man City could benefit from Everton’s “massive” Grealish blow

“I don't think he quite has the elite-level motivation that you need to win the league several years in a row...I think Grealish's problem is that he just couldn't do that year in, year out, day in, day out.

“As he said, he likes life and that’s absolutely fine, [but] if you want to win trebles, you can't have a day when you're tired. You just can't. Everything has to be bang on, bang on, bang on. I think Grealish is now loving life [at Everton], so it's a massive blow for them.”

On Everton, McInerney added: “They are enjoying themselves right now. At their new stadium, beating Palace the other week was massive. Palace were unbeaten until that point, so it was a huge win against one of the most in-form teams in English football. Full stop.

“When you look at the side, Idrissa Gueye and Ndiaye are cracking players. Pickford, Tarkowski and Keane is an incredibly experienced trio. They're a good side [but] they could finish anywhere between sixth and 16th, that's what Everton can do."

However, taking into account Grealish’s absence, the fact that Saturday’s contest is at the Etihad and that Man City have come out of the international break unscathed, with some Citizens stars set for an imminent return to first-team action, McInerney is confident that Guardiola’s side will prevail against Everton.

“Resurgent” Man City handed “minor miracle” boost before Everton clash

“If Grealish was playing and it was at the new stadium for Everton, I'd feel very differently. But as it is, without their main man and with City sort of in relative resurgent form, I'm confident going into this game, even though Everton have been playing pretty well this year,” said McInerney.

“It’s going to be an interesting game, but I don't think Everton will be able to take their overall form and apply it to Manchester City. They've been good, but their games have been pretty even...They're getting the odd goal in three, or the odd goal in five and winning games, but they're not blowing teams away.

“I suspect City will probably have a little bit too much quality, especially when you add all these players returning on the bench. [Rayan] Ait-Nouri] should be available, [Rayan] Cherki should be available, [Omar] Marmoush should be available. Players have come back from the international break with no injuries, which is a minor miracle for City.

“Everton are a great side, but I do think the Grealish factor is a massive blow for them right now, because a lot of their joy so far has come from the good feeling around people like Jack Grealish.”

McInerney has also shared his thoughts on how Man City could line up for this weekend’s fixture and the importance of collecting all three points against Everton, before preparing for a challenging run of league fixtures against Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Liverpool and Newcastle United.

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