FA Cup Quarter Final: Everton vs Manchester City

Introduction

Everton and Manchester City collide in the FA CUP quarter-final from Goodison Park on Saturday. The top-ranked team Manchester City will travel to Everton, placed 7th in the premier league. The Citizens have been in very good form in the last couple of matches and are considered to be favorites for the FA cup Knock out fixture.

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Why Should You be Watching?

The Cityzens and the Toffees will meet each other for the last club game before the international break. The Home form for Everton had not been in their favor and they would want this to turn. Whereas Man City won 3-1 at Goodison Park when they last visited. All in all, this looks to be a tough fixture for the home side, only time would tell if Ancelotti could weave a strategy for the win over Peps “almost” league champions.

Build Up

Man City is on a high having a good run of form after the defeat they suffered by Manchester United. On other hand, Everton has lost back-to-back games and would want to come back to winning ways. City secured a champions league victory over Borussia Monchengladbach at Budapest and would want a win before the international break. The Toffees had a win last, over Liverpool at an away game, and would hope their fortunes would turn at home when they face Man City.

Everton form: LLWWW

Manchester City form: WWWLW

Team News

Everton

Carlo Ancelotti is hopeful of playing Semis and Finals, this looks to be seen and he has a task at hand to solve the team inconsistencies. Everton has many injured players and they will be without the services of Fabian Delph, Jordan Pickford, Abdoulaye Doucoure. Robin Olsen is set for a return. But it would be interesting to see on match day of Joao Virginia is given the opportunity in the posts. Jean-Philippe Gbamin is back in training and may start on the bench.

Ether one of Joao Virginia or Olsen will start the goal for Everton. At the back, Yerry Mina and Michael Keane will form the central defensive partnership, with Ben Godfrey and Lucas Digne being the two full-backs. Allan will reprise the holding midfield role up ahead, with Tom Davies and Andre Gomes with the creative onus falling on Gylfi Sigurdsson. Finally, Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin will form the strike partnership for Everton.

Predicted Line Up

4-3-3 / 4-4-2

Robin Olsen

Ben Godfrey, Yerry Mina, Michael Keane, Lucas Digne

Allan, Andre Gomes, Tom Davies

Gylfi Sigurdsson, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison

Manchester City

Pep and City are on a high and should have an easy fixture to win, and would look forward to taking advantage of the losses the home team has faced recently. Pep would also be looking to keep a clean sheet and have a good defensive performance. There are no injuries in the Manchester City squad for the first time in this season. All the players are available at their disposal for Pep. Sergio Aguero has returned from the injury and would be looking forward to the start in this fixture.

This being an FA Cup game, Zack Steffen will earn a rare spot in the starting lineup for Manchester City, Kyle Walker, and Benjamin Mendy ought to be the two full-backs, with Aymeric Laporte coming into partner Ruben Dias at the heart of the Manchester City defense.

Up ahead in midfield, Rodri will sit at the base of the three-man unit, aiming to assert Manchester City’s control on the game. Any 2 out of 3 Kevin De Bruyne  Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva will sit alongside him in the middle of the park.

Finally, in the attack, Sergio Aguero will have a chance to turn his week around when he leads the line for Manchester City against Everton. The Argentinean striker will be supported by Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling in the final third, from the flanks.

Predicted Line Up

4-3-3

Zack Steffan

Kyle Walker, Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Dias , Benjamin Mendy

Ilkay Gundogan, Rodri, Bernardo Silva

Riyad Mahrez, Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling

Players to Watch Out For

Everton

Richarlison

Richarlison has had a decent form in the last couple of matches and his pace could give trouble to City fullbacks. His dribbles in the Final third would cause havoc in the city defenses if given a chance.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin

He scored in their loss against Burnley in their last outing and would want to be on the score sheet again on Saturday night. Pep mentioned him to be an important player for Everton in the pre-match conference and the striker would like to prove Pep right.

Gylfi Sigurdsson

He is another midfielder who can use utilize his capabilities to score long-range and we have seen City concede goals from long-range. He can certainly cause a headache for opponents on matchday.

Manchester City

Raheem Sterling

He has been out of the starting lineup for the last couple of games and would be in starting XI and would want to score and prove Pep wrong in his selections.

Sergio Aguero

He has been back from injury and would relish this fixture and make use of his goal-scoring opportunity. Coming off the bench in his last two games, Aguero, will be looking forward to a full 90-minute game.

IIkay Gundogan

Gundogan has been in sensational form for quite a few matches and would want to replicate the same. He is in good touch and always seems to find a player or put the ball in the net himself. He would certainly be making good use of his attacking runs and would be a pain for Everton Defence.

Conclusion

Manchester City has been in stunning form and would look forward to an easy victory before the international break. Everton would want to utilize the ever-existing defensive frailties in the City side and would want to come on top and break their losing streak. All in all, we are in for an exciting FA Cup clash tonight.

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