EPL Week 12 Wagering Weekend Windup: Manchester City vs. Everton

It is yet another match with League title implications in this edition of the EPL Weekend Wiindup as defending champions Manchester City take on Everton at Etihad Stadium in Manchester. While it’s no surprise to anyone that Manchester City is once again favored to win the title, they have not yet reached the form that saw them run away with it last season. A struggling Everton is another team that City supporters will be drooling over as they are winless in five, and the Sky Blues are heavy favorites to mop the floor with them this Sunday. At +1700, Everton is one of the biggest dogs we have seen this season but are things really that lopsided? Is there any hope for a Merseyside miracle in Manchester? We break down the David and Goliath tilt for you right here, but you can check out all the EPL odds for this weekend at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Manchester City vs. Everton Predictions & Picks

• Everton (+1700)

Every once in a while, there comes along a match with odds that seem a little lopsided. While not many people have made a living betting against Manchester City in recent years, there are times when a long shot is screaming for at least a little recognition. This might just be one of those times.  

There is no doubt that Manchester City (-205) are deserved favorites at home to an outmatched Everton (+1700), who are winless in their past five matches. But let’s take a closer look at this five-game downturn for the Toffees.  

While they lost three of those matches, they were all outstanding games. The 5-2 loss to Watford may stand out as a very poor result on the surface and is probably the evidence bookies are looking at to justify such a big odd. The inside scoop, however, is this. Everton led that game 2-1 with only 12 minutes to play. Four goals in 10 minutes from Watford was as shocking as it gets in this league, especially since Everton out-possessed Watford for the entire match. This game was more a case of ten minutes of madness than it suggested Everton were a lousy team.  

The other two losses were narrow one-goal defeats by Wolves and an excellent title-contending West Ham, both of whom had to stave off late surges from Everton to hold on. 

The remaining two matches of this five-game skid are where it gets interesting. One, an away draw at Old Trafford to a hot at the time Manchester United. The other game, another draw. This time to a Spurs team that had already defeated Manchester City. So while the five-game winless skid is terrible on paper, things are not as bad as they seem for Everton, and the money flowing in on City may be out of habit more than anything else.

Manchester City has also shown itself to be far from infallible too. After all, it was just two weeks ago that Crystal Palace strode into Etihad and blanked the champions 2-0. Manchester United was also able to get clear chances on Ederson in the derby last week, so it seems that Everton will have its opportunities to land a sucker punch this Sunday.  

Everton keeper Jordan Pickford is another factor here as he tends to show up in these big matches. After being overlooked for England duty by Arsenal’s Ramsdale during the week, the hot-tempered, rosy-cheeked Everton stopper will be in the mood to throw a wrench in Man City title hopes. While it wouldn’t be prudent to go all-in on this one, sometimes a calculated risk is in the cards. Everton is a much better team than the current odds show, and while Manchester City is the team to beat this season, they have shown chinks in the armor that could amount to a nice payday if you can tolerate the risk.