. Manchester City will be making the short trip to Merseyside to face Roberto Martineza s Everton in a 4 PM (BST) kick off on Sunday. The Citizens are expected to field the same starting XI that dismantled Champions Chelsea 3-0 last Sunday.
Manchester City have made a flying start to the 2015-16 Premier League campaign, registering impressive wins against Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion. Ivorian powerhouse Yaya Toure and Spanish playmaker David Silva have particularly impressed for the Sky Blues, registering 2 goals and 3 assists, respectively.
Otamendi to sit out
Citya s rearguard, which has kept back to back clean sheets in opening round of fixtures, has been further boosted this week by the arrival of Argentine center-back Nicolas Otamendi from Valencia. However, according to City manager Manuel Pellegrini, Otamendi is expected to sit out this weeka s clash with Everton.
a In this moment, in the way we are playing, it is impossible to move Kompany and Mangala from their positions and all the rest of the playersa , said Pellegrini.
a They are in a good moment. We did not concede one goal in the last two games. We continue playing with the same.
a I think that we needed a centre-back. We analysed different options and we decided that Nicolas Otamendi was the best option, so here he is. He will be a very important player. I think he is a very good player, he is improving.
a We have another centre-back with Mangala and Kompany with Demichelis. We have Jason [Denayer] also. We will see what happens with him. This season with the amount of games we must play it is important to have four centre-backs.
Pellegrini also alluded to the possibility of playing with 3 centre-backs sometime during the course of the season saying, a When you have good players you have possibilitiesa .
a This year it is important first to have the best two options, seeing their performances. The players always have their best performances when they have important competition inside the squad.a
Zabaleta out for four weeks
In a major blow to Manchester City, right-back Pablo Zabaleta has been ruled out of action for up to 4 weeks with knee ligament damage. French International Bacary Sagna will continue to deputize for Zabaleta at right-back in the interim.
a It happened in training. Ita s the first time in 12 years of senior football that Ia ve ever been injured like this so ita s a blow, especially at the start of the seasona , Zabaleta told the cluba s official website.
a Pablo Zabaleta yesterday had a problem in his knee with his ligaments so he will be out for around one month,a Pellegrini told the media.
Delph, Clichy back in training
Manchester Citya s new signing Fabian Delph has also returned to full training ahead of their trip to Everton.
“Fabian Delph returned this week on Wednesday to work with the whole squad so he doesn’t have any problemsa , said Pellegrini.
Delph got injured in his first outing for the club in a pre season friendly against Real Madrid. Even if he is fully passed fit, Delph is expected to take up a place on the bench alongside Gael Clichy, who himself returned to full training this week.
Manchester City will be looking to continue their terrific start to the new campaign by getting the better of an in form Everton side. It will be interesting to see how Pellegrini juggles his resources in the upcoming weeks. But in the short run, the Chilean will not be too keen to tinker with his first XI.