Everton vs Manchester City: 5 things to watch against Manchester City

With Everton’s defence so porous they will need to score more than once for a result

5. Everton will need to score twice to beat Manchester City

Back in the glory David Moyes era it was a regular occurrence to beat Manchester City despite the wealthy Middle Eastern backers being now in situ. The remit for those wins was clean sheets and Tim Cahill to score from crosses or set pieces.

As we fast forward to the current day the remit Lampard requires to do the same is very different. Clean sheets can not be relied upon and he does not have the type of player Cahill was at his disposal.

If you look back at recent meetings with City, Everton have conceded three goals or more on most of these performances. If this happens it is impossible to beat City as you do not have enough of the ball to score more than three. Everton have lost their last eight games against City and only won once in 17 Premier League games.

The key is to get the first goal and keep it tight, or keep getting the next goal as Spurs did last week.

The atmosphere the Evertonians will provide at Saturday tea-time will certainly give the players another boost like recently against Leeds and Brentford. This may not have the same desired effect against City with their experience and know-how, but it can provide inspiration for the players in the royal blue shirts.

If Everton could get the first goal it would keep the passionate Goodison faithful at its loudest and we have seen it in big games before that the opposition can falter when it matters. Guardiola will know this himself as his first game at Goodison astonishingly finished 4-0 when youngsters Tom Davies and Ademola Lookman scored there first goals for the club, that is that one win in 17 games.

The Everton defence will have to have the game of there lives to keep City out completely and I think Everton would have to score twice for any positive result. Can they do this? Yes, they can, but again they will need to get ahead of City to have any chance.

Certainly, this game is more intriguing than it looked a couple of weeks ago. City’s defeat against Spurs has opened up the title race and nerves in the camp maybe a little bit more frayed than anyone would have imagined.

While it has been a mixed start for Lampard, there is no doubt that Everton can get a result at home now against most. The question is can they be against the best in the business? If they can surely Premier League safety will be met, if not it does not actually change too much but it could mean a place in the relegation zone come Saturday night.