Vieira had seen his side put a series of impressive performances together in recent times, culminating in seven wins in succession. But that run ended against Leicester on Monday, and Vieira will be hoping to get back on track against Everton.
The Toffees find themselves in 6th position in the Barclays U21 Premier League, having racked up 9 points from their five fixtures so far. Their form is close to a carbon copy of Vieira’s side, with both teams registering three wins in the current campaign, as well as two defeats. The only major difference is that City’s young side have played two games more than their opponents and lead the Merseysiders by a mere two points.
That means that a win for the hosts at Ewen Fields on Friday would extend a five-point gap between the two sides, while City will end the night as the league leaders with a victory – with the teams above them in the division not taking to the field until next week.
City got the better of Everton’s U21 side in the most recent meeting between the two sides, cruising to a 3-0 win at the Etihad Stadium in August last year, with Albert Rusnak hitting a double. City then went on to finish the season 8 points better than David Unsworth’s Everton side, who ended the campaign in 11th place.
As for the game itself, Vieira could well make a string of changes from the disappointing defeat to Leicester, with the likes of James Horsfield, Thierry Ambrose and Olivier Ntcham possibly moving in to the side after featuring from the bench at the King Power Stadium.
We’ll have live twitter updates on the game over at @MCFC and on the #cityblog, as well as a match report and highlights on mcfc.co.uk.
Kick-off is at 7pm at Hyde’s Ewen Fields (SK14 5PL), entry is free for seasoncard holders, and £3 adults, £1 concessions.
