Manchester City vs Everton
The blue side of Manchester will be in party mode on Sunday. City fans will finally be back at the Etihad to witness the newly crowned champions lift the Premier League trophy. But before all the festivities can take place, City still need to entertain Everton in their season finale.
The Premier League 2021 betting odds will favour City heavily to win the finale in front of their fans, but the Toffees have been terrific away from home this season and will be keen to play spoilers at the Etihad.
Talking Points
Sergio Aguero hoping for City swansong
With the championship sewn up for a while, Manchester City have clearly taken it easy over the past few games. After losing at home to Chelsea, they had a thrilling 4-3 shootout win against Newcastle, then lost 3-2 to Brighton.
Joao Cancelo was sent off after just 10 minutes at Brighton, which was a major reason why City were unable to hold onto a 2-0 lead. With Cancelo now suspended for the season finale, Kyle Walker is likely to return at right-back with Oleksandr Zinchenko continuing at left-back.
And on the other end, Pep Guardiola is hoping Sergio Aguero will be able to play in what is expected to be his final home game ever as a City player. The 32-year-old missed the Brighton match due to injury and will be desperate to go out with a fitting farewell in front of the City fans at the Etihad.
Kevin de Bruyne also missed the Brighton match with an injury and will likely sit out again as City exercise the utmost caution with their star man ahead of the Champions League final against Chelsea.
Meanwhile, Ferran Torres has started the last few Premier League matches and is expected to keep his place in the first XI. The Spanish international has come on strong late in the season; he’s scored five goals in his last five league appearances, three of which came in a hat-trick against Newcastle.
Everton can still end up in Europe
Everton have had a disappointing end to a once-promising season. They have won just three of their last 11 league matches (four draws, four defeats), which has seen them fall out of the top-four race.
Their awful home form has been primarily to blame. Prior to their 1-0 win over Wolves in midweek, they had won just one of their previous 11 games at Goodison Park, with seven defeats.
On the other hand, the Toffees have been terrific away from home. They have lost just one in their last 14 on the road, with nine wins.
But despite Everton’s poor run of Premier League 2021 results, they are still in eighth – tied on points with Tottenham in seventh – and can qualify for the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League if they do finish seventh.
James Rodriguez was absent once again for the Wolves match and it remains to be seen whether he will be fit enough to play in the finale. If the Colombian does miss out, Gylfi Sigurdsson will assume playmaking responsibilities with Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin looking to trouble the City defence.
Sigurdsson supplied the assist for Richarlison’s winning goal against Wolves, which was the Brazilian’s first goal since the start of March.
History
The Manchester City-Everton matchup has been quite even over the course of Premier League history. However, it has tilted decidedly in City’s favour in recent years.
City have won each of their last six league matches against Everton, which includes a 3-1 win at Goodison in their first meeting this season. City also knocked out Everton in the FA Cup with a 2-0 win thanks to two late goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne.
Such has been City’s dominance that Everton have just one win over the last eight years, which came back in 2017.
