PREMIER League champions Man City will begin the New Year all but out of the title race, however, the Citizens will be targeting a winning start to 2020 when they entertain Everton at the Etihad on Wednesday evening.
Pep Guardiola's star-studded side were hunted down by Wolves in a festive firecracker last Friday on a night where City's title defence went up in smoke at Molineux.
The Sky Blues bounced back with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Sheffield United on home soil on Sunday and the hosts could face another stern test on New Year's day against a rejuvenated Everton outfit.
New Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti has enjoyed a dream start to life in the Toffees hot-seat by securing back-to-back wins over Burnley and Newcastle respectively.
The Italians influence, as well as Blues legend Duncan Ferguson's fury of emotion has generated a monumental mood swing on the blue half of Merseyside following Marco Silva's dismissal earlier this month.
The Blues are unbeaten in their last five Premier League outings – three of which were against the “traditional top-six”- and as such Everton will arrive at the Etihad high in confidence.
The Betting odds
The Toffees are a towering 10/1 (BoyleSports) to triumph in this tussle and a point apiece is also deemed improbable at 11/2 (BoyleSports) with the same firm.
Pep's champs are odds-on favourites at 2/7 (UniBet) to make it three home wins on the spin.
The Betting Angles
Indeed, Man City managed to keep a clean sheet against Sheffield United, however, the Blades were unfortunate not to make the net bulge and Everton's superior attacking quality won't be so forgiving when coming up against the Sky Blues ropey rearguard.
The likes of the Gyfil Sigurdsson, Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin all possess tools that could trouble City's leaky defence and I like the look of the 10/11 (PaddyPower) on offer for the latter to have at least one shot on target.
Calvert-Lewin has scored all three goals of the Ancelotti era thus far and after bagging brace last time out against Newcastle the in-form forward looks overpriced to have at least one attempt on target against a City side who have conceded in four of their last five league games at the Etihad.
What's more, the Everton striker is an eye-catching 7/2 (Bet 365) to score anytime, however, I'm going to revisit a market that I struck gold with when City hosted Leicester a fortnight ago by backing the visitors to score before the 76th minutes at 5/6 (Bet 365)
Everton are 3/5 (SportNation) to strike in this showdown but I'm more attracted to the 5/6 (Bet 365) that is avalaible for them to do so before the clock hits 76 – a bet that would have banked profit for six of the last seven visiting sides to this venue.
However, at the other end of the park the Toffees will be hard tasked when trying to tame Guardiola's array of attacking talent and despite City's well documented defensive deficiencies, the hosts do still possess the deadliest attack in the division.
The Blue Moon have banged in 54 goals in 20 Premier League outings – an average of 2.7 per game – and they will be coming up against an Everton side who have failed to register a single shutout on the road this season.
However, the Merseysiders have scored in each of their last six league games away from Goodison Park – including a double at Anfield – and with that in mind, coupled with City's fragile back four, I fancy both teams to find the back of the net at 3/4 (Betway) – a bet that has landed in 15 of Man City's last 17 matches across all competitions.
This English Premier League match between Man City and Everton will be played on Jan 1, 2020 and kick off at 17:30. Check below for our tipsters best Man City vs Everton prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.