Pep Guardiola’s men got their season off to the perfect start last weekend, beating newly promoted Brighton and Hove Albion by two goals to nil away from home. City had 70.8 per cent possession in a game that resembled attack against defence for much of the 90 minutes, with the visitors’ three centre-backs – John Stones, Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi – often camped deep inside Brighton’s half of the field. Yet for all their control, City still had to be patient; the opening goal did not arrive until the 70th minute, and they did not register a single shot after taking the lead through Sergio Aguero (the second goal was inadvertently scored by Albion defender Lewis Dunk). Nevertheless, picking up all three points was all that really mattered on the opening weekend.
Expectations are high at the Etihad Stadium this season, after a summer in which the club have already spent in excess of £200m on new additions. Kyle Walker, Danilo and Benjamin Mendy have solved the full-back issue, while Bernardo Silva adds another option in attacking areas and Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson provides an upgrade on Claudio Bravo between the sticks. Doubts remain at centre-half and at the base of midfield, but City’s squad has clearly been substantially strengthened in the current window.
Everton also got off to a winning start last time out, beating Stoke City 1-0 thanks to a goal from Wayne Rooney on his second debut – which came over 13 years since his last Premier League appearance for his boyhood club. It was a mixed performance from the Toffees, who took a while to get going in the first half but ultimately did enough to collect maximum points; Ronald Koeman’s side face a completely different task on Monday, though, and understandably head into the game as underdogs.
Everton have also invested heavily this summer, although much of their transfer spend has been recouped by the sale of Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United for £76m. As well as the returning Rooney, the Merseysiders have brought in Davy Klaassen, Michael Keane, Jordan Pickford, Sandro Ramirez and Cuco Martina, with all six additions having been made by the middle of July. That gave Koeman a few weeks to integrate the new faces into the squad, which could pay off in the first few games of the new season.
City will probably stick with the 3-5-2 formation they employed at the Amex Stadium, although Guardiola does have a penchant for chopping and changing both system and personnel. Mendy remains sidelined with a thigh strain, while Ilkay Gundogan is still on his way back from a knee injury and forgotten man Samir Nasri is out with a back problem. No team in the division averaged more possession than City (59 per cent) last season, and more of the same is to be expected against the Toffees at the Etihad.
Everton began the triumph over Stoke in a 3-5-2 configuration, before switching to a 4-3-3 after the interval. The former shape may not have worked against the Potters, but Koeman could still employ it this weekend, primarily because it is likely to give his defence a better chance of containing Aguero and Gabriel Jesus. The Dutchman, though, will have to make do without Ross Barkley (hamstring), Aaron Lennon (knock), James McCarthy (knee), Ramiro Funes Mori (knee), Seamus Coleman (broken leg) and Yannick Bolasie (knee).
Taking everything into account, it is hard to look past a City victory in this one. A home win in a match featuring more than 2.5 goals could be the way to go on Monday. In the anytime goalscorer market, meanwhile, Kevin De Bruyne could be a wise choice.
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