Everton host Manchester City tonight at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, and there’s added incentive for David Moyes.
After defeats against Liverpool and West Ham United, the Toffees need to find something tonight to get their European push back on track.
Everton are starting to lose ground, so three points this evening would be most welcome.
How would you have the side lined up if you were David Moyes? 🤩
Let's hope Beto is ready to go on Monday! 🤕
But coming to Hill Dickinson tonight are a side bang in form, with City gunning for Premier League leaders Arsenal.
City have closed the gap in recent weeks and smell blood. But the schedule has allowed Arsenal to create a six-point gap again.
Everton will want to derail City’s bid to close that gap, and boost their own European hopes in the process.
A lot has been made of Everton’s poor recent record against City – and Moyes himself has a pretty shocking record against his opposite number Pep Guardiola.
David Moyes looking to stun Pep Guardiola amid awful record
Moyes has not had a fun time against Guardiola since he came to English football.
The pair have met 18 times so far to date, and Moyes has only ever recorded one victory against him.
That was in the 2021/22 season when he was manager of West Ham, and his side won 5-3 in the Carabao Cup fourth round at London Stadium.
It was certainly a respectable win, with City starting the likes of Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez and Kyle Walker.
There have been three draws between them, and 14 wins for Guardiola.
The City boss has a great record against a lot of managers in fairness, given his standing as one of the all-time great coaches.
Tonight would certainly be a fantastic time for Moyes to get his first ever Premier League win against Guardiola.
That would also help bump up his own points-per-game (PPG) against the Spaniard.
At the moment, his PPG of 0.33 against Guardiola is his lowest against any other manager he’s faced at least five times.
There is no overstating the size of the task tonight.
How much confidence have you got in Moyes to get three points against City? 🫣
Not the most encouraging of comments ahead of the game… 😭
City are often rampant at this point of the season, and Everton come into the game having not won since March 21 against Chelsea.
But if Moyes can get the game plan right, and frustrate City, perhaps there could be opportunities on the break.
But when those opportunities come the Toffees must be ruthless, and hopefully Beto – who’s back available – can step up amid the good form he’s been in.
It’ll also be important for other threats like Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye to be clinical when the moments arrive.
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