1 Sterling form
Raheem Sterling landed the EA Sports Premier League Player of the Month award for November earlier this week, a fitting reward for his recent performances.
It’s a well-deserved accolade for a player with nine goals and nine assists in 20 matches this season.
And at the Etihad Stadium he is particularly profitable. He has scored 17 goals and provided nine assists in 21 Premier League home appearances since the start of last season, an amazing run of form that highlights is improved confidence in the final third.
He’s arguably been City’s player of the season so far and Everton will no doubt be keeping a close eye on him.
READ: City v Everton | Injury update
READ: Sandler kicking on after injury lay off
2 Home comforts
Guardiola has certainly turned the Etihad into a place feared by opposition sides.
We have won our last nine at home in the league, scoring 33 goals in the process.
More of the same on Saturday will do just nicely.
3 Beware of Everton threat
They’re result have perhaps been less consistent than they would have liked, but there can be little doubt Marco Silva’s appointment has had a significant effect on Everton’s style of play.
They’re summer transfer window went superbly well and they are now a squad full of genuine quality.
Andre Gomes is arguably the most intelligent and technically-gifted midfielder they’ve had since Mikel Arteta left for Arsenal in 2011, Ademola Lookman is a superb prospect and Bernard, who played exceptionally well for Shakhtar Donetsk against us last season, has brought additional pace and ability to their left-hand side.
But it’s perhaps Richarlison who has had the most dramatic impact. The 21-year-old, signed from Watford in the summer, has scored eight goals in 15 matches for Everton this term, a sizeable return.
And when he scores, they tend to be decisive. His eight league goals this season have been worth nine points, the joint most of any player in the division alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for Arsenal and Glenn Murray for Brighton.
The direct, physical Everton we came up against last season has been replaced by a far better footballing side.
4 Aguero closing in on another landmark
Should Sergio Aguero return to the starting lineup after injury, he will be in a with a chance of hitting another significant landmark in his career.
He is just two goals shy of a career 250.
But…Everton are a side who have contained him fairly well down the years. His ratio of a goal every 358 minutes in this fixture is his worst versus any of the 31 teams he has scored against in the Premier League.
