EPL Odds: Man City Face Steady Everton Side

Everton (+340) vs Manchester City (-114), Draw (+290)

Stuck in a log-jam under first-place Chelsea, Manchester City (13-3-4, 42 points) travel to Goodison Park this Sunday, January 15, to take on Everton (8-6-6, 30 points) in the 21st fixture of the English Premier League.

Manchester City took a 2-1 win over Burnley in the last round, moving three points closer to Chelsea at the top of the table after the Blues fell to Tottenham. But City are still seven points back of first. And they’re just one of five teams within five points of second place in the table. Disappointing losses to Liverpool and Leicester City in the last few weeks have kept them in that tightly packed bunch.

Given the talent they have on the roster and the form they showed at the start of the year, they remain among the favorites for the title. However, the fact that manager Pep Guardiola is still making big changes to the starting lineup this late into the season is cause for concern. Guardiola is famous for imposing his style of play on his teams rather than designing a system that is tailored to his personnel, and he hasn’t been able to iron out all the kinks yet.  His constant tinkering with the team has meant that they haven’t had the chance to find a steady rhythm.

The team’s successes this season have come thanks to its raw talent. With Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Aguero, and the young Kelechi Iheanacho up front, City have one of the most threatening attacks in the league. Combine that with defenders like Pablo Zabaleta and Nicolas Otamendi, and you’ve got a team that is more than capable of winning championships.

Everton are sitting in seventh, a full nine points back of sixth-place Manchester United. They recently suffered a tough loss to Leicester City in the FA Cup, but in the Premier League they have been pretty consistent. Their reliance on star striker Romelu Lukaku to bring in the goals is somewhat concerning. That said, the Belgian has been up to the task so far with 11 goals in 19 EPL games. He and Aguero are tied for the league lead heading into Sunday’s meeting.

While Everton aren’t on par with the top teams, points-wise, they have given some of the top six problems head-to-head. They already snatched a win over Arsenal this season and earned draws against Manchester United and Tottenham. They also managed a draw in their last match against City at Etihad. Manchester City are the superior side, on paper, but they have lacked cohesion all season and will be playing in a tough environment at Goodison Park. At +340 odds, Everton a worth a look.

Pick: Everton (+340)

Photo credit: “Romelu Lukaku” by Gobal Panorama CC BY-SA 2.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0], via Flickr.