Everton v Manchester City - Head to Head

Manchester City take on Everton at Goodison Park, knowing if they win three of their final four matches of the season, they will be crowned Premier League champions for a third successive season. The blues have won their last ten Premier League games and haven’t lost since a 1-0 defeat to Spurs at the beginning of February.

Everton, meanwhile, recorded their first win since March in midweek when they beat Brighton 5-1 on the South coast, a result that boosted their chances of Premier League survival.

The pair have a rich history and Sunday’s match on Merseyside will be the 195th time they have met overall since the league format began. Results have varied between the two and there’s not been much between them over the years, although City do have a slight advantage over the Mersey Blues. City have won 78 of the previous 194 games played between them, with Everton not far behind on 68, with 48 draws.

In recent times, the blues have come out on top against Everton, losing just four of their previous 26 meetings home and away. From those matches, City have won 16 and drawn six, so the footballing gods are with the Manchester blues at present.

That hasn’t always been the case though. Prior to those 26 matches, Everton were in the ascendency. Over the previous 26 matches, Everton won 14 with the blues taking all three points on just eight occasions, with four draws scattered in between.

At Goodison, City have an excellent recent record and have won the last six on the Mersey blue’s home patch. This included a controversial win last season when Phil Foden’s 82nd minute goal secured the three points, but a long VAR check for possible handball against Rodri, which was eventually dismissed, caused outrage with both Everton and Liverpool fans. The latter claimed that decision cost them the league title, and not the points dropped in other matches, with many still having nightmares about it a year later.

Goals Can be Hard To Come By At Goodison For Everton

Everton have only scored more than once on one occasion this season - a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace is the only time the home fans have celebrated multiple times this season. And they haven’t had much joy against City recently either.

From their last six meetings at Goodison, Everton have scored just three times and failed to score on the other three occasions. By comparison, City have scored 14 times over the same period. The last time Everton scored more than once against City was in January 2017, when the Toffees beat the blues 4-0 on Pep Guardiola’s first-ever visit. Suffice to say, he’s learnt his lesson since then.

To find City’s biggest win at Goodison, you’d have to go back to September 1928 when the blues won 6-2 on Merseyside. However, if want to see their heaviest defeat, you’d have to go 22 years earlier to 1906, when Everton thumped City 9-1.

Something For the Superstitious

If you’re one of these people that believes in superstition, you may continue reading at your own risk.

City have faced Everton five times at Goodison in May and have only won once. The blues have been beaten twice with two draws when meeting in the final month of the season, however, the solitary win was the last time they met in May - 3-2 in 2014.

But, and this is where the superstitious will be diving for cover behind the sofa, in May 1960, City lost 3-1 after drawing their home match 0-0. And May 1977’s match ended 1-1 after the meeting at Maine Road ended in a 2-2 draw. That’s not too bad is it? Not, not quite.

The last time Everton got a 1-1 draw in Manchester, City won 3-1 at Goodison, but before the season prior, the blues lost 4-0 after a 1-1 draw in Manchester. a 1-1 draw in December 2012 was followed by a 2-1 defeat the following March and a 1-1 draw at Maine Road in October 1985 was followed with a 4-0 hammering at Goodison three months later.

Don’t worry though. As long as you wear your lucky clothes, lucky underwear and perform your lucky pre-match rituals, we’ll be fine.