Manchester City vs EvertonTEAM NEWSRomelu Lukaku, Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines are all fit to face Manchester City on Saturday, Everton manager Ronald Koeman has confirmed.
Lukaku and Jagielka were both doubtful after picking up thigh injuries on international duty, while Baines has missed the last three games with a hamstring problem.
Darron Gibson is also fit to make his comeback after undergoing groin surgery but James McCarthy and Aaron Lennon are doubts.
Kevin de Bruyne Injury 480
For Manchester City, Kevin de Bruyne is facing a race against time in his recovery from a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined since 24 September.
John Stones is set to line up against the Toffees for the first time since moving from Goodison Park in August.
FORM First hosts fifth in the Premier League when Everton travel to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Ronald Koeman’s side have been victorious in two of their three away league matches this term, taking maximum points at West Bromwich Albion (2-3) and Sunderland (0-3) before suffering defeat at Bournemouth (1-0).
Last time out, in front of the Goodison floodlights on a Friday night, the Toffees played out a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace.
Manchester City set the early season pace by winning their opening 10 matches in all competitions.
This hot-streak was ended with a thrilling 3-3 Champions League draw at Celtic, and they were then consigned to a first defeat of the Pep Guardiola era at Tottenham Hotspur (2-0) prior to the international break.
PREVIOUS MEETINGMANCHESTER CITY 3-1 EVERTON - 27 JANUARY, 2016
The two teams met four times last season, the most recent being the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg last January.
On that cold winter evening, Everton’s hopes of a Wembley final were dashed by a late comeback win from Manchester City.
The Toffees held a 2-1 advantage from the first leg and added to that with Ross Barkley’s stunning early goal.
City replied instantly through Fernandinho but the Toffees still had the edge.
That was until Kevin de Bruyne controversially steered home Raheem Sterling’s cross midway through the second half, when the ball appeared to have already gone out of play in the build up.
The hosts confirmed their place at Wembley when Sergio Aguero headed in another goal a quarter of an hour before the end to win the match 3-1 and the tie 4-3 on aggregate.
KEY OPPONENTSERGIO AGUERO
The striker, now in his sixth season at the Etihad Stadium, has scored an impressive 147 goals in all competitions for Manchester City, in addition to his 33 for the Argentina national team.
Aguero missed a month’s worth of Premier League football earlier this season after he was hit with a retrospective three-match suspension for elbowing West Ham United’s Winston Reid in a fixture in August.
He was able to play in the Champions League during his domestic ban and netted a hat-trick in City’s 4-0 victory against Borussia Mönchengladbach.
On his Premier League return at Swansea City on 24 September, he scored twice to take his tally for the campaign to 11 goals already.
MAN IN THE MIDDLEMICHAEL OLIVER
Saturday’s contest will be overseen by the 31-year-old official from Northumberland.
Oliver has refereed eight domestic and international matches this season, including Everton’s 1-0 win over Stoke City at the end of August.
He has shown 33 yellow cards so far this term but has not brandished any red.
LISTEN LIVE As always, there will be free live audio commentary of Saturday’s contest here on evertonfc.com.
Click here to listen to broadcast duo Graham Stuart and Darren Griffiths’s coverage of the action on matchday.
Get involved in the broadcast on Saturday by tweeting in your shout-out requests using #EFCLive.