Everton vs Manchester City (Premier League): Match Preview, Team News, Stats, Head to Head, How to Watch | OneFootball

Manchester City are back in action this weekend as they travel to Goodison Park for one final time to face Everton in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

Pep Guardiola and his side will once again be desperate to continue their winning ways as the ever-tightening race for Champions League football heats up further, with three points for the champions almost vital to strengthen their position for a place in Europe’s top competition.

In their last outing in the top-flight, the Sky Blues conjured an incredible comeback from 0-2 down at the Etihad Stadium to emerge 5-2 victors over Crystal Palace, with Kevin De Bruyne at the heart of everything excellent.

Eberechi Eze and Chris Richards gave Palace a two-goal lead inside 21 minutes after consistently poor defending in the early stages, dispatching a simple ball across the box in the eighth minute before thumping a header home from an Adam Wharton corner.

By the 36th minute, parity was incredibly restored following a quick-fire double inside six minutes from Pep Guardiola’s side as De Bruyne scored an exceptional free-kick to give City hope, before Omar Marmoush levelled the game with an excellent finish from close range.

In the second period City’s tenacity and dominance continued as De Bruyne was once again instrumental, playing a perfectly weighted pass to be hit with ferocity by Mateo Kovačić into the bottom corner less than two minutes into the second-half.

The champions’ desire and hunger was not satisfied, as they continued to persist. An exceptional ball from Ederson from inside his own area found James McAtee between a high Palace defensive line, rounding the keeper with composure, and slotting into an empty net.

The result was put beyond all reasonable doubt by another academy graduate as Nico O’Reilly unleashed a well-struck, side-footed volley following a poor clearance which took a slight deflection and found the back of the net, securing all three points for the home side.

Manchester City’s opposition this weekend come into the fixture in decent form, with the Toffees only suffering one league loss since the 19th of January, acquiring five wins and six draws in 12 games.

In regards to the table, the home side has little to play for, as David Moyes’ side are free from the relegation scrap in 13th place, 17 points above the relegation zone. For City, however, every league fixture from now until the end of the season is the equivalent of a final.

As it stands, Manchester City sit fifth; one point above Chelsea and Aston Villa, and trailing Nottingham Forest in fourth by two points, so three points is almost essential for the club in order to try and tighten their grip on UEFA Champions League football for next season.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Manchester City’s last visit to Goodison Park!

Match Details

Manchester City travel to Merseyside this Saturday afternoon to face Everton at Goodison Park for the final time ahead of The Toffees’ move to their brand new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock this summer, with kick-off scheduled for 15:00 BST.

Match Officials

The Premier League has confirmed that Simon Hooper will oversee proceedings on Saturday afternoon.

Check out the full list of match officials below!

Team News

For the home side, Dominic Calvert-Lewin remains ruled out through a hamstring injury, Jesper Lindstrøm due to a groin issue, and Orel Mangala sidelined through an ACL injury sustained in January.

For Manchester City, both John Stones and Nathan Aké remain absent due to respective long-term injuries. On a positive note, however, Manuel Akanji has made a return to training following an abductor injury against Real Madrid in February, requiring surgery.

Rodri is still recovering from his ACL injury but has been participating in training with the ball at his feet recently, and Manchester City remain hopeful that the Ballon d’Or winner could feature during the Blues’ FIFA Club World Cup campaign in the United States from June.

Phil Foden has also returned to training this week following his absence from the matchday squad against Crystal Palace through injury, while Erling Haaland will still be out for a number of weeks despite showing positive signs in regards to his recovery from an ankle issue.

An assessment on the availability of both Foden and Akanji will be made by Pep Guardiola and his coaching staff, alongside guidance from medical officials at the club, on Friday.

Ederson has also been added to Manchester City’s list of persistent injury woes this campaign, as the Brazilian is ruled out following a groin injury as a result of his spectacular assist at the weekend.

City’s number 31 has reportedly been carrying the same issue for a large portion of the ongoing campaign, and while he is hopeful to feature again this season, he is likely to miss the next few matches, starting with this weekend’s visit to Everton.

Head To Head

In their last fixture, these two sides could not be separated as they drew 1-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Boxing Day after Bernardo Silva gave the Sky Blues an early lead in the 14th minute through a deflected strike looping over Jordan Pickford.

Everton levelled matters later in the first-half after the Manchester City defence failed to deal with a dangerous Abdoulaye Doucouré cross, finding its way through to Iliman Ndiaye, who finished superbly.

Erling Haaland had the chance to restore Manchester City’s lead from the spot in the 53rd minute after a foul on Savinho from Vitaly Mykolenko, but it was a relatively poor penalty and Pickford denied the Norwegian from 12 yards.

Historically, this fixture has been closely competitive over the years, with 46 of the 182 matches played across all competitions being draws, whilst Everton have won 60 and Manchester City have emerged victorious 76 times.

Statistics

Everton are winless in their last 15 Premier League games against Manchester City (D3 L12) since a 4-0 win in January 2017 under Ronald Koeman.

Since David Moyes’ return game as Everton manager on 15 January, only Liverpool and Arsenal (1 each) have lost fewer Premier League games than the Toffees (2), who’ve taken 21 points in his 13 games this season (W5 D6).

Since beating Ipswich 6-0 in January, Manchester City have scored just two goals in four away Premier League matches (W1 D1 L2), failing to score at all in their last two. They last failed to score in three away games in a row in December 2015 under Manuel Pellegrini.

Their five goals in the 5-2 win over Crystal Palace took Manchester City to 102 goals in all competitions in 2024-25, a 12th consecutive season in which they’ve scored 100+ goals, the longest run of any top-flight side in history.

David Moyes is winless in his last 15 Premier League meetings with Manchester City (D2 L13). However, as Everton manager, he only won more league games against Fulham (14) than he did against the Citizens (12), winning each of his last four against them at Goodison Park.

Opposition Preview

Tom Marshall, @EFCdaily_

With this being the last clash between these two sides at Goodison Park, we have included an opposition preview ahead of the final fixture between Everton and Manchester City at a truly historic ground, reflecting on some of the most memorable contests at this venue.

“And then there were three; Everton welcome Manchester City to Goodison Park for the 100th and final time.

“It’s all starting to feel very real now that Everton will be departing one of English football’s most iconic grounds, a home that has seen more top-flight games than any venue across the country.

“Everton have had the better of the Mancunians on their home turf over the last decade or so on a few occasions; a notable victory in 2013 with goals from Leon Osman and Nikica Jelavić saw David Moyes’ Everton defeat the then-Champions 2-0 at Goodison Park.

“A few years later, Everton had a late winner over City in the League Cup semi-final first-leg with a powerful header from Romelu Lukaku. And of course the most memorable; the 4-0 thrashing in 2017.

“Ronald Koeman’s Everton ran riot; Tom Davies completely playing the likes of Yaya Touré off the park, grabbing himself a memorable goal after picking the ball up inside his own half and going on to chip Claudio Bravo.

“However, Everton haven’t had the better of the champions since.

“Manchester City will be Everton’s third-to-final home game, and David Moyes and Everton’s aim will be to give Goodison Park the best possible send-off after 133 years of history in L4.

“Of course, Pep Guardiola’s aim will be to come across the M62 and upset the leaving party. The visitors will be doing everything possible to ensure Champions League qualification, while Everton are more or less playing for pride.

“Since returning to Goodison Park, Moyes has put the feel-good factor back into the fanbase, guiding the Toffees away from any sort of threat of relegation since taking over in January. City travel well to Everton, as they do with most teams; however, Everton have had some memorable occasions against the Mancunians, including inflicting Pep Guardiola’s largest ever defeat back in 2017 with a four-star display.

“Manchester City will go into the contest as favourites, but I can see a close contest as Everton prepare to close the doors to Goodison Park.”

How To Watch

For viewers in the United Kingdom the game will not be available to broadcast live on television due to the 3PM blackout rule. Coverage will be on offer via BBC Radio Manchester, with action getting underway from 15:00 GMT.

For viewers in the United States, the game can be streamed live on UNIVERSO from 10:00 EST.

You can find the full TV listings for this match here!

City Xtra will have full live coverage available on our X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram channels throughout Wednesday evening, with content also provided on cityxtra.co.uk and YouTube!