[Football- England 'Premier League'] 27.12/ 21:15 Everton- Manchester City

[Robredo]

[Football- England 'Premier League'] 27.12/ 21:15 Everton- Manchester City

Returning victorious from the Club World Cup (CWC), Manchester City players are more rested than the Everton players as Everton has had two hard fought games from last week whilst City had a chance to bench players in CWC.

With two games in hand, City are 5th in the league, 8 points from the leaders Liverpool. They've scored 40 and conceded 20 in 17 games. Whilst the expected goals (xG) adds up (38.26, -1.74 from reality), the expected goals against (xGA) is 17, second lowest in the league. This is noteworthy, explaining us that City's opponents do not get many good looks infront of goal and some goals have been "uncommon" (Undestat).

Though Man City hasn't had the best winter thus far, they've had a hard set of fixtures in the midst of a Champions League campaign. Playing without Rodri and Haaland has been a challenge as they're trying to find their usual status quo when it comes to possession, goals or creating chances. Both players are questionable for tomorrow, hence the odds, and it will come down to the last minute if the two will play or not. With the quality City has in their depth, replacing the two with enough quality is no miracle.

At away games, City has won 56% of the games this season. Their xG at away games is 2.17, one of the highest in the league, whilst xGA is 1.04. In reality, City score an average of 2 goals at away games and conceded 1.22 on average (FootystatsA).

Everton sit at the 17th spot in the league table, mostly thanks to the -10 point punishment they received, so without it, they'd be 10th. Everton have scored 23 goals this season (xG of 32.20!!) and conceded 22 (xGA of 25.22) (Understat).

There is concern over Gueye playing tonight, but their main man, Doucoure, is set to miss the match due to injury (Sean Dyche). Their squad depth is not that great, so I expect to see a few young players (Dobbin perhaps) to start in what I presume is a 4-3-3.

Everton is actually doing better at away games than home games, but sadly for them, it's a home game tonight. They have won just 33% home games and lost 56%. Their xG is 1.73 and xGA is 1.11. In reality, they're scoring just 1.11 goals per game and conceding 1 per game. At home, their shot conversion rate is an appaling 8%, the worst in the league (FootystatsB).

Out of the last 12 Head to Heads, City has covered the -1 spread nine times, winning the other 2 games with just a single goal (in this scenario, its a push) and drawing just once (11v11). In the 18 games Sean Dyche, the Everton coach, has faced Man City, he has been victorious just once, drawing two and losing 15 times (Transfermarkt).

2 (handicap -1,5) @2,00 Bet365

FT 1:3