How Manchester City could line up against Everton

By Ben Knapton | 26 Dec 2020 22:21, Last updated: 05 Jun 2025 08:34

How Man City could line up against Everton

Manchester City will be looking to build on their comfortable win over Newcastle United when they travel to Goodison Park to take on fellow high-flyers Everton on Monday.

Goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Ferran Torres ensured that Pep Guardiola's men came out on top in their Boxing Day clash with the Magpies, with City rising to fifth in the table with that victory on their own turf.

As things stand, this week's visitors are three points behind Everton having played one game fewer, and the Toffees scraped a vital win of their own during the festive weekend as they won 1-0 at Sheffield United.

Here, Sports Mole looks at how Manchester City could line up for their showdown with Everton.

Out: Eric Garcia (muscle), Kyle Walker (coronavirus), Gabriel Jesus (coronavirus) Pep Guardiola has a trio of absentees to contend with for the trip to Merseyside, with Eric Garcia still sidelined with a muscular injury while Gabriel Jesus and Kyle Walker have tested positive for coronavirus. All three players would have been in contention to feature here, but Guardiola's infamous rotation is nevertheless set to strike given their lack of rest since beating Newcastle. Benjamin Mendy is one name who could feature on the teamsheet in place of Nathan Ake, but the rest of the rearguard is likely to remain the same, meaning no start for Aymeric Laporte once again. Rodri's early substitution on Boxing Day suggested that he was being spared for this game, so the Spaniard should reprise his normal role in the heart of midfield - potentially alongside Fernandinho if Gundogan is granted a rest. Further up the pitch, the indispensable Kevin De Bruyne should feature from the first whistle once more, but Riyad Mahrez is in line to replace Bernardo Silva on the right, while Phil Foden's efforts to demote Raheem Sterling to the bench may prove futile. Sergio Aguero was unable to increase his prolific tally against Newcastle as a late substitute, but the Argentine was nevertheless fit enough to take to the field on Boxing Day, and Aguero could return to the forefront of the City attack in what would be a significant boost for Guardiola.