Remembering.
First off, let me start with this. This will be the first Manchester City home game since the terrorist attack at the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena on May 22nd.
22 concert goers were killed and hundreds injured in the attack. When City played United on the Pre-season tour of America the sides wore the Manchester worker bee on their shirts in remembrance.
Now an effort is being made, and doing the rounds via social media, for City fans at the game to applaud for the duration of the 22nd minute in remembrance.
Injuries.
Ilkay Gundogan (pictured): has a possibility of making the bench for this game. With the wealth of talent we have in the midfield I doubt Pep would risk him starting unless absolutely confident he has recovered fully. If he is on the bench then maybe he will get a run out for the last 20 minutes.
Benjamin Mendy: Is still a little way from making his City debut. In the last press conference Pep said he was making good progress and not too far away from being available for selection.
Fabian Delph: Probably wouldn’t have got a look anyway but he is in the same position as ‘Blue Mendy’. Close but not quite there.
Sergio Aguero.
Our star striker will be looking to get on the board against Everton for a variety of reasons.
Firstly he has failed to score in the last six meetings with Everton. Surely, as prolific as Kun is, he is due a goal or three!
Secondly, and something that the mainstream media may not acknowledge is, if Aguero does score tonight. Sergio currently only needs one more goal in order to become the leading non-EU goal-scorer. At the moment the title belongs to Dwight Yorke, with 123.
Wayne Rooney.
Our boy Aguero is not the only player closing in on a record. Everton’s Wayne Rooney is also one goal away from his own landmark. The next goal he scores will make him only the second player to score 200 Premier League goals. That will be as high as he gets though as Shearer, with 260 net bulges to his name.
He will join Alan Shearer if and when that goal is scored. Speaking of Alan Shearer he did enjoy scoring against us, 11 goals in his career. Rooney is second to him in that statistic also, 8 goals to Shearers 11.
Guardiola v Koeman.
Both were team mates at Barcelona together, as I had said earlier.
Last season, at Goodison Park, Koeman inflicted the heaviest league defeat on Guardiola. The 4-0 drubbing was the exception rather than rule for both Pep and for the fixture.
You have to go back to December 2010 for the last time Everton beat City at the Etihad.
Guardiola has only lost one in his last 22 previous Premier League home games and City remain undefeated in the last seven games (in all competitions) against Everton when the Etihad is the venue.
Another stat I discovered, which I was actually quite amazed at given our record in the 1990’s, was that we have never lost our first home game of the season. Plenty of draws, but no defeats.
City Line-Up
I think Pep might throw a few curve balls in the line up on Monday night. In the friendly game in Girona I noticed Leroy Sane was back defending on the left. It wouldn’t surprise me, if not tonight then at some point, we find Sane is to the left of a back three.
Ederson in between the sticks for sure with Stones, Kompany and Otamendi in front and Walker to the right.
I am not sure if Pep will go for Toure or Fernandinho but I’m thinking Toure may start this game. Of course, no matter who gets the nod, it will almost certainly be David Silva and DeBruyne pulling the strings.
At home I think you most certainly have to go with the two guys up front, Sergio and Jesus.
The pace of Sane (if on the left) and Walker will certainly give Everton something to think about.
Keys To The Game.
So, how do we get Wayne to look like this again tonight.
In the last game for Everton in the Europa League, the Toffees started well but faded in the second half. Similar was true of the first League game against Stoke. Nine shots, four on target and the majority of possession at home resulted in only a 1-0 win.
Kompany: Needs to be on his game, vocal and organising his defensive line. Rooney must leave having spent the whole game in Kompanys back pocket.
Unlike the last two games Everton were in, I am not sure that Everton will come at us early on. We have pace and full backs who are encouraged to get forward and catch them on the counter if they do.
If we can get an early goal in the opening fifteen minutes then that will force Everton to attack, as with any sides we face at the Etihad. We can certainly exploit the spaces behind the lines that will then create. That said, we also have to be aware of the spaces we leave due to our playing style.
Stretching the play and ball retention will be key the longer it goes on without a goal.
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