John Stones, Matheus Nunes, Jeremy Doku and Manuel Akanji all come into the starting eleven to face the Toffees from the team that beat Brentford 3-1 on Monday.
Kyle Walker, Josko Gvardiol Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva are the quartet who revert to the bench.
Mateo Kovacic and Sergio Gomez are not part of the matchday squad through injury.
For Swiss defender Akanji it marks a first return to the City starting line up since being forced off with an ankle injury in last month’s FA Cup third round win at home to Huddersfield.
With City facing seven games in total across a hectic February schedule, manager Pep Guardiola has again utilised the quality and options at his disposal to both seek to overcome Sean Dyche’s side and look to keep the squad fit and refreshed.
Teams
CITY XI: Ederson, Akanji, Dias (c), Stones, Ake, Rodrigo, Nunes, Foden, Alvarez, Doku, Haaland
Subs: Ortega, Walker, Gvardiol, Lewis, Grealish, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Bobb, Wright
EVERTON XI: Pickford, Godfrey, Tarkowski (C), Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Young, Garner, Gana, McNeil, Harrison, Calvert-Lewin
Subs: Virginia, Patterson, Keane, Onana, Beto, Coleman, Chermiti, Hunt, Dobbin
Tactics
Ederson will once more be the familiar figure in goal with the Brazilian keeper protected by a back four of Akanji, Stones, skipper Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake
In midfield, Rodrigo and Nunes are set to be the deepest lying players with Julian Alvarez, Jeremy Doku and Phil Foden deployed further forward in support of Erling Haaland, who will spearhead the City attack.
Perfect ten?
City will go into the game on the back of a superb run of form that has seen Pep Guardiola’s side chalk up nine consecutive victories across all competitions.
It’s a sequence that has seen City build up a real sense of momentum and belief with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones and Erling Haaland also having returned to full fitness.
And with leaders Liverpool, who lie two points ahead of us, not playing until 3pm later on Saturday afternoon, a tenth straight win would also see the reigning champions assume top spot – at least for a few hours at least.
No lack of incentive for City then!
Plucky 13
City also boast a fine recent record against the Merseysiders going into today’s game.
We are unbeaten in our last 13 Premier League games against the Toffees having won 11 and drawn two of those matches.
Indeed, you have to go back to January 2017 for our last setback against Everton when we slipped to a 4-0 Premier League loss at Goodison Park.
Stats and facts
Head-to-head
City are unbeaten in 13 Premier League matches against Everton since losing 4-0 at Goodison Park in January 2017 (W11, D2).
The Toffees recorded four consecutive league victories at the Etihad Stadium between 2008 and 2010 but are winless in 12 subsequent top-flight visits, though they did earn a 1-1 draw at our ground last season.
Manchester City
City are unbeaten in 21 home league fixtures (W17, D4), with our only loss in the past 35 top-flight matches at the Etihad Stadium coming against Brentford in November 2022.
Pep Guardiola‘s team are undefeated in 23 Premier League games against sides in the relegation zone since losing 3-2 at Norwich in September 2019 (W21, D2).
We have gained 17 points from losing positions this season, three short of our highest figure in a Premier League campaign, set in 1993-94.
The reigning champions only kept one clean sheet in our previous 12 league games, while their tally of five shut-outs is the lowest after 22 top-flight matches since 2016-17.
City have scored 39 times in all competitions since Erling Haaland‘s last goal, which came in a 3-2 win against RB Leipzig on 28 November.
Haaland has gone four successive league appearances without a goal for the first time since a five-match streak for Borussia Dortmund between March and April 2022.
Phil Foden has eight goal involvements in his past six top-flight appearances, scoring four and assisting four.
Foden has netted four times in eight Premier League games versus Everton, including the equaliser when City won 3-1 at Goodison on 27 December.
Everton
The Toffees are winless in six league matches, drawing each of the past three.
They last drew four consecutive league games between August and September 2022.
Everton have scored a league-high 50% of their goals this season from set-pieces. Excluding penalties, their tally of 13 goals from dead-ball situations is exceeded only by Arsenal’s 14.
Sean Dyche will become the 18th manager to take charge of 300 Premier League matches.
He has only won one of his 19 games as a manager against Manchester City in all competitions (D2, L16), which was Burnley’s 1-0 victory at Turf Moor in March 2015.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has failed to score in each of his past 17 appearances in all competitions, last netting in October’s 1-0 win at West Ham.
