Manchester City travel to Everton for Saturday's evening kickoff needing just two more wins to clinch this season's Premier League title.
Pep Guardiola has failed to defeat the Toffees in three attempts during his time in England, and his opponents are one of just four teams to have taken points off the champions-elect this season.
Everton
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Sam Allardyce was always going to have a tough time reversing Everton's fortunes after inheriting Ronald Koeman's beleaguered side last November.
Although his arrival sparked a brief upturn in form that helped the Blues pull away from the relegation zone, the honeymoon period is well and truly over and calls for the former England manager's head have been growing louder in recent weeks.
In fairness to Allardyce, the Toffees' home form has picked up since he took charge, with only Manchester United leaving Goodison Park with maximum points during his tenure.
That said, they have been dire on the road for the most part, but ended a run of five straight away defeats the weekend before last with a 2-1 victory at Stoke City.
That win prevented Everton from racking up six away defeats on the spin for the first time since the dark days of the Mike Walker era in 1994, and coupled with a home victory over Brighton & Hove Albion the week previous, helped the Blues sign off for the international break on a high note.
While a run of four wins in the last seven outings has helped consolidate Everton's position in the top half of the Premier League table, large sections of their fanbase seem keen to see the back of Allardyce, and the latest reports suggest that he could make way for Shakhtar Donetsk head coach Paulo Fonseca this summer.
This seems somewhat unfair considering the unbalanced mess he inherited from Koeman, and the fact that the Blues are just three points away from seventh place ahead of their clash with City, but perhaps their league placement says more about the inconsistency of the teams above them than Everton's progress under Allardyce.
Everton have the fifth-worst defence in the league and their goal haul is nothing to shout about, averaging 1.19 strikes per game, but they have won 13 points from losing positions this season, a joint-high with Bournemouth.
A surprise win against City would keep Allardyce's men on course for a backdoor spot in Europe via a seventh-placed finish, but even that might not be enough to save his job given his unpopularity among Evertonians.
Recent form: LWLLWW
Manchester City
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City will be eager for a win at Goodison as another three points will give them the chance to wrap up the Premier League title against their local rivals Manchester United in front of their own fans on April 7.
While clinching the trophy on derby day would be special indeed, Guardiola's side will still be on course to win the league in record-breaking style if they fail to defeat Everton.
The Citizens have dropped points just four times in their opening 30 league matches, and like Everton, they will line up at Goodison fresh off the back of a victory against Stoke.
City have not played since that win three weeks ago, but several members of Guardiola's squad were in action for their countries during the international break, and the rest took part in a training camp in Abu Dhabi.
Before the break, the Sky Blues collected an impressive 19 points from a possible 21 since losing at Liverpool more than two months ago, but their away form in 2018 has not been as sparkling as the table suggests.
This calendar year has seen them held at Burley and Crystal Palace, as well as that loss at Anfield, although the victory over Stoke was their second on the spin away from home.
Another variable to consider is that City are in action in the Champions League against Liverpool just four days after their showdown with Everton, although the squad depth at Guardiola's disposal makes fixture congestion less of an issue.
Whatever happens at Everton, City are almost guaranteed to finish at the top of the pile this season, with a 16-point lead over second-placed United, but no doubt they would hate to blow the chance to set up a crunch title-clincher at the Etihad next week.
Recent form: WDWWWW
Recent form (all competitions): LWWWLW
Team News
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Everton lost two key players to injury during the international break, with Idrissa Gueye suffering a thigh strain and Tom Davies a neck problem.
Neither will feature against City, which paves the way for the out-of-favour Morgan Schneiderlin to redeem himself in midfield.
Ashley Williams, meanwhile, will be suspended, which means veteran Phil Jagielka is likely to partner Michael Keane at centre-back.
After scoring a brace in the win against Stoke, the ever-improving Cenk Tosun is expected to lead the Everton attack.
For City, there is a question mark over whether Sergio Aguero will be fit to start up front.
The prolific hitman withdrew from international duty with Argentina in midweek due to the after-effects of a leg injury, and will be assessed ahead of the trip to Goodison.
Meanwhile, Fabian Delph is expected to return to City's matchday squad after missing a month of football due to injury and suspension.
For Benjamin Mendy, however, the game comes too soon after his return to training following a lengthy injury layoff.
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Coleman, Jagielka, Keane, Baines; Gueyue, Schneiderlin; Walcott, Rooney, Bolasie; Tosun
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Kompany, Otamendi, Zinchenko; De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Silva; Sterling, Jesus, Sane
Head To Head
Everton are one of only four sides to take points off City this season, and they did that during a 1-1 draw at the Etihad in August.
Wayne Rooney and Raheem Sterling got the goals that day as the Blues made it three games unbeaten against Guardiola's Sky Blues.
The visitors will have painful memories of the last time they visited Goodison Park, as they were on the end of a 4-0 drubbing, a result which arguably goes down as Koeman's finest hour in the Everton hotseat.
Everton versus City is a fixture which dates back to 1899 and it has been played 319 times competitively. It is also evenly balanced, despite the gulf between the two teams in recent years, with each of them having won it 68 times.
City's last victory over Everton came in the second leg of the 2016 League Cup semi-final, when they beat them 3-1 at the Etihad to book their place at Wembley.
We say: Everton 0-2 Manchester City
Although Everton have threatened an upturn in form of late, Guardiola's record-breaking City will likely prove too much for them. While the Sky Blues will have one eye on their Champions League meeting with Liverpool the following week, an early goal should see them on their way to a comfortable win against a side whose campaign is still shrouded in negativity, and more recently, blighted by rumours of Allardyce's impending exit.
Mark Langshaw
