Manchester City will look to maintain pressure in the Premier League title race when they travel to Everton on Monday night.
Pep Guardiola’s men have enjoyed a 12-day break from league action since beating Burnley to go top of the table, thanks to their triumphant FA Cup semi-final against Southampton last weekend. During that time, they’ve slipped back down to second, but can still return to the summit if they win their games in hand over Arsenal.
Manchester City predicted lineup vs Everton
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma; Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly; Gonzalez, Silva; Semenyo, Cherki, Doku; Haaland.
Rodri came off injured toward the end of City’s vital win against Arsenal and has since missed the matches against Burnley and Southampton. The Spaniard is close to returning, but Guardiola may choose to bring him on from the bench, given his bad luck with injuries over the last couple of years.
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Nico O’Reilly filled in through the middle in Rodri’s absence at Turf Moor. However, Nico Gonzalez was excellent in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, scoring the late winner and creating three chances. He could retain his midfield spot, allowing O’Reilly to replace Rayan Ait-Nouri at left-back, where he’s been so effective this season.
Elsewhere, centre-backs Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol are both still injured. The former is close to returning from a hamstring problem but isn’t quite ready yet, while the latter’s focus will solely be on getting ready for the World Cup as he recovers from a broken leg.
Pep Guardiola warns against ‘tough’ Everton
After some standout results against the likes of Newcastle United and Chelsea, Everton enter this match on a two-game losing slump, going down 2-1 against Liverpool and West Ham, who both scored last-minute winners.
However, Everton away is still one of the toughest fixtures on the calendar, even if they now play at Hill Dickinson Stadium, and can’t rely on the old-fashioned menace of Goodison Park.
That’s the warning coming from Guardiola, who is urging his players not to take David Moyes’ men lightly, especially as the Toffees are still chasing a European spot heading into the final sprint of the season.
“Always, Everton have been tough,” Guardiola said in his pre-match press conference.
“Old Everton was so cool and so British, and I loved to go there, but in the new stadium, they are defending really well, and always it has been tough.
“In recent weeks, Everton have had very good results and are fighting for a place in Europe. We won with two or three actions here, but we were not good at that moment.
“We can’t have any result but win, win, win.”