Everton No. 1 Jordan Pickford unsure if it is a good time to face Manchester City
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Everton's Jordan Pickford kept four straight English Premier League clean sheets before the 2-1 away defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on Dec 23.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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LONDON – Manchester City have won just one of their last six English Premier League matches, their worst league run since 2016, but Everton and England No. 1 Jordan Pickford is unsure if it is a good time to face the champions.
His side are in good form, having won four straight league matches without conceding a goal before a 2-1 away defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on Dec 23, a match which they were arguably unlucky to end empty-handed.
Said goalkeeper Pickford ahead of the visit of the newly minted Club World Cup winners to Goodison Park on Dec 27: “City are a top team. You don’t win five trophies in a year for no reason. They’re well trained, they’re constantly playing three games in a week. They’re always ready...
“They are champions and they’ve won the lot and I don’t know if it’s going to be a good or bad time to play them. But we are fully prepared and we have to fully respect them but also take our chances when we have opportunities and get after them.”
City manager Pep Guardiola, however, is more certain about how he feels about the prospect of facing Everton now.
After his side’s 4-0 Club World Cup final win over Fluminense
City may have won on their last six Premier League trips to the blue half of Merseyside, but Everton did hand Guardiola one of his most chastening defeats, a 4-0 loss in 2017.
The Toffees’ good form since being handed a 10-point penalty for breaching the Premier League’s financial rules has boosted confidence in the squad.
Said Merseyside-born midfielder James Garner, a Manchester United youth product: “We’re not afraid of anyone at the moment. We see ourselves beating pretty much anyone we play. Our style of play is very unique and different to, I’d say, anyone in the league. Teams we’re facing this year are finding it tough to play against us.”
City, however, were given a confidence boost of their own after the top two, Liverpool and Arsenal, played out a 1-1 draw over the weekend, keeping the fifth-placed champions in sight of the pacesetters.
While City’s recent struggles in the league has cast doubt on their title hopes, Gunners great Liam Brady is still tipping Guardiola’s men to come out tops for the sixth time in seven seasons.
He told the Irish Independent: “I still think Manchester City are the team to beat for a few reasons.
“If they get all their players back, you would fancy them to go on a winning run, and someone has to try and stick with them when they get into that patch.
“Kevin de Bruyne is a massive player and he will be like a new signing when he comes back and winning is a habit they have mastered in the last few years.
“Teams like Arsenal are still trying to prove they can get over the line in a title race.
“This is a better title race than we have seen in recent years. City dropping a few points has given the other teams some hope, but don’t write them off.
“Pep Guardiola is a great manager and his team know how to get over the winning line in the final weeks of the season.”
City are still without injured playmaker de Bruyne. Fellow midfielders Rodri and Jeremy Doku as well as striker Erling Haaland face late fitness tests.
Everton are without injured midfielders Idrissa Gueye and Dele Alli.
Fullbacks Seamus Coleman and Ashley Young face late fitness tests, along with midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure.
