Manchester City vs Everton prediction: ENGLAND: Premier League betting tips on match 2024-02-09 12:30.
[p]Manchester City look to be once again storming towards another strong end to the season, and with it, an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title. They came from behind to beat Brentford 3-1 on Monday night, extending their unbeaten run across all competitions to 12 matches with each of the last nine in that streak ending in victories. Most crucially though, they moved to within two points of leaders Liverpool, meaning a win in this early kick-off against their rivals Everton would see them reclaim top spot – for the time being at least. [/p]
[p]They’re fancied to achieve that target with H2H history heavily weighted in their favour, as the champions are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League home games against Everton (W7, D5). One of those draws did come last season, but the fact City have dropped points in just three of their 20 home league games since then (D3) shows how formidable they are at the Etihad. [/p]
[p]A daunting battle therefore awaits Everton, who have had an indifferent start to 2024. The Toffees have drawn four of their six competitive matches so far (W1, L1), with the latest stalemate in that run a 2-2 draw with Tottenham last weekend. That exhilarating contest was the first to produce four or more match goals in their last seven contests – coincidentally since a 3-1 defeat to City in late December’s reverse fixture. [/p]
[p]That’s contributed to Everton coming into the round with the lowest goals-per-game average in the league, with their 23 fixtures so far generating an average of just 2.43 per fixture. Sean Dyche’s men would most likely take another tight affair here, especially if it leads to them adding to their 17 away league points – that’s already more than in any of their last two campaigns (2021-22 – ten points, 2022/23 – 15 points). [/p]
[p]Key battle: Phil Foden scored a hat-trick in Monday’s win, the 39th by a City player in the Premier League – only Liverpool (41) and Arsenal (42) have managed more. Jordan Pickford finished the last round with a league-high eight clean sheets, but he’s never kept one against City in 14 attempts, while against only Spurs (36) has he conceded more goals (35). [/p]
[p]Hot stat: City’s five clean sheets after 22 Premier League games is their lowest tally since 2016/17 (4).[/p]