Everton – Manchester City

The champion will defeat one of the outsiders of the championship

Manchester City became club world champions the other day, winning that status for the first time in history. Both of the English club's matches at the tournament in Saudi Arabia were easy walkovers for them. Pep Guardiola's wards defeated Japan's Urawa 3-0 in the semi-final meeting, before declassifying Brazilian Fluminense 4-0 in the final. After the described events, Manchester City players will certainly need psychological and physiological acclimatisation. At the same time, the tournament position of the English champion is unlikely to give the opportunity to relax for too long. Who would have thought that the main favourite of the championship will finish the first round in fifth place. We can talk about one match in reserve at the Mancunians, but even in the case of victory in it the team would not even enter the top 3. Everton will meet a formidable opponent as the sixteenth club of the division. One could argue that such a position contradicts the historical traditions of the Toffees, but it is worth remembering that only recently they got out of the relegation zone. Bookmakers have identified the guests of the upcoming match as favourites, offering odds of 1.58 on their victory. Until December, the current season was quite bad for Everton - the team stayed in the relegation zone and reminded their fans that last year's problems have not been solved. The situation categorically changed this month. In just a fortnight, the Toffees managed to win four times in a row without conceding a single goal. Clubs such as Chelsea and Newcastle were among those defeated during this period. In the middle of last week, Everton flew Fulham out of the English League Cup, and Tottenham managed to score only a prestige goal. As you can see, it's too early to judge the Liverpool club as a truly competitive club. Manchester City is experiencing a real black streak in the Premier League. Back in November, the Mancunians were leading the league, but fell into a four-game winless streak. To justify Guardiola's team, City have faced Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Aston Villa over that period, but for the champions, not a single win over that stretch is an unsatisfactory result. Manchester City added to their woes with a draw against Crystal Palace in the last round, which was secured by a 90+5 minute goal. The guests are in dire need of a win.