Man City have picked up just four points from their last eight games - the worst record of any of the 20 Premier League teams. The Citizens are seventh in the table, 12 points behind Liverpool. That gap almost certainly means City are out of the title race.
Pep Guardiola's side have been poor, losing shockingly to underdogs. City have an easy run of fixtures coming up in the coming weeks, with Everton, Leicester City, West Ham United, Salford City, Brentford and Ipswich Town all in the mix. This gives them the perfect opportunity to push back into the top four.
City host Everton with a boost in confidence, having not lost to the Toffees at home in 13 games. Since returning to the top flight in the early 2000s, City have also won all seven of their home games on Boxing Day.
Likewise, the visitors have a good record on Boxing Day, unbeaten in their last eight away games on the day since 2005. Everton are riding high on a positive run that saw them win 4-0 at Wolves and hold both Arsenal and Chelsea to 0-0 draws.
However, their attack is still a big concern as only Southampton have a worse attacking record than Sean Dyche's team (scoring 14 goals). Everton have also won only 1 of their last 22 meetings with Man City, losing 12 of their last 13. Therefore, they cannot be complacent in their trip to Etihad.
Expected lineup
Manchester City: Ortega; Walker, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol; De Bruyne, Kovacic; Savinho, Foden, Doku; Haaland
Everton: Pickford; Coleman, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Harrison, Gueye, Mangala, Doucoure, Ndiaye; Calvert-Lewin
