The Injury Hits Manchester City's Star Before Everton Match And The Expected Lineup Of Manchester City

Manchester City return to the Premier League this evening after their Club World Cup heroics.

While critics ridiculed the tournament as a distraction in the middle of the season, City fans will struggle to give that much credence when the players adorn the world champions badge tonight. Although Pep Guardiola's side are on cloud nine, the Catalonian boss will not be looking for any complacency at Everton.

Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku will be fighting hard to return to the starting XI on Merseyside following their injuries. Kevin De Bruyne is likely to remain sidelined until January but it was pleasing to see him take part in training last week.

Rodri is also an injury concern but Guardiola seemed hopeful his injury suffered vs Fluminense was just minor. So with this in mind, here is how our City writers think the Blues will line-up against Sean Dyche's men.

Manchester City have never been higher in world football so with that in mind it may be the perfect time for Guardiola to bring some of his players back down to earth. Kyle Walker may use criticism of his performances as fuel but he has been well below par of late and so too has Ruben Dias.

With Rico Lewis, Manu Akanji, John Stones and Nathan Ake putting far fewer feet wrong, that feels like a defence with the physicality needed against Everton but also with the creativity to help out the midfield and attack. It may have been coincidence but Phil Foden was better in the middle without Julian Alvarez there as well, and he has earned the right to stay there; it is expected that Haaland will miss out.

Bernardo Silva is good enough to play anywhere and if Foden is central that likely means him on the wing, with Jack Grealish supporting on the other flank. Mateo Kovacic has edged it over Matheus Nunes as the final place in midfield, in part because of the credit he built up in the early part of the season.

 

Choosing the preferred line-up for City is never easy and this task has been made trickier following the Club World Cup final. Should both Haaland and Doku be fit, they will make good cases to be included in the starting XI.

It seems impossible not to play the Norwegian talisman if fit. This would mean, in my side, dropping Alvarez deeper into the No.10 role and allowing Foden a rest after a demanding night in Saudi Arabia.

Against a physical side like Everton, having a player like Alvarez on the pitch to accompany Haaland in the forward line when necessary, prevents Dyche's team from marking him out of the contest. Beyond this, it is a very similar team to the one which won the Club World Cup.

Rodri must start should he have recovered, the concern is who will replace him if Wednesday night comes too soon for him.

If Haaland and Doku both miss the trip to Goodison Park as expected then there are perhaps only two positions of ambiguity. At left-back, Ake has looked more defensively assured than Josko Gvardiol while Kovacic’s displays at the Club World Cup may see him take the secondary midfield role.

Elsewhere, the team looks straightforward. Alvarez shook off his recent No.9 shackles to net twice in the Club World Cup final while Foden is making it hard for Guardiola to justify moving him out of the No.10 role.

The big positive for City fans would be seeing Rodri line-up after his injury scare in Saudi Arabia. Last week, the Spaniard said he thought he would be fine for Everton and we’ll see if the medical staff agree on the day.

GK: Ederson - City's number one goalkeeper is occasionally rotated out for Stefan Ortega but you'd be surprised if that happened here.

RB: Kyle Walker - It's been quite the turnaround for Walker, who Guardiola once said wasn't suitable for his tactical system.

CB: Ruben Dias - Hasn't shown the level of consistency you'd expect from a player of his standing, yet he's still a world class defender

CB: Josko Gvardiol - The Croatian hasn't established himself as a first team regular at City, even though he cost a whopping £77m. Rotation, eh?

LB: Nathan Ake - Probably the most improved Premier League defender over the past couple of years.

DM: John Stones - City may feel they need to start Rodri, who picked up an ankle injury in the Club World Cup final, because of their shocking record without him. But this version of Stones may be good enough to fill the void.

CM: Mateo Kovacic - Underwhelming would probably be an accurate description of the former Chelsea man's start at the Etihad.

CM: Bernardo Silva - In stark contrast, there's absolutely nothing underwhelming about the performances of Bernardo Silva. A brilliant, brilliant player.

RW: Phil Foden - Enjoying a good run in the team and the increase in minutes has led to an upturn in performance level.

CF: Julian Alvarez - A true diamond for City, shining brightly alongside Erling Haaand when he's fit and instead of him when he's absent. Does the nitty gritty bits so well.

LW: Jack Grealish - Another player to blow hot and cold this season, Grealish has certainly upped his level since Jeremy Doku burst into the team to show what he can do.

What time does Manchester City  vs Everton kick-off?

Location: London, England

Stadium: Stamford Bridge

Date: Wednesday 27 December

Kick-off Time: 19:30 GMT / 14:30 ET