The Everton boss takes his side to the Etihad on Boxing Day and believes the Toffees can capitalise on Manchester City’s struggles – with a startling comparison
The Everton boss takes his side to the Etihad on Boxing Day and believes the Toffees can capitalise on Manchester City’s struggles – with a startling comparison The Everton boss takes his side to the Etihad on Boxing Day and believes the Toffees can capitalise on Manchester City’s struggles – with a startling comparison
Sean Dyche feels Manchester City’s aura is starting to slip like Manchester United’s did when Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
Everton visit the Etihad today and Dyche says the challenge for his side is to capitalise on City’s struggles. City have lost an unprecedented nine of their last 12 games – following their weekend reverse at Aston Villa – and Dyche said: “The stats and facts, when they start changing, they add belief, don’t they? That’s just the way sport works.
“If a team starts suffering a bit, then it adds belief to the group of whoever’s going there. Remember many years ago, teams going to Old Trafford, and you remember what happened there? Even when they were down, you knew they would score in Fergie time and all that.
“Then once that started to just break down a bit and people started going, ‘hang on a minute, we can have a bit of a go here’.
“It wasn’t down to one team or one result, it was down to that feel and I think that’s what changes. So if we can capitalise on that, great, but what I’m saying is it’s still not easy. They’re still a top-class bunch of players.
“It’s not like they’re suddenly all not good players. We’ve got to try and do our bit to make sure we look after ourselves and hopefully win.”
Dyche claims City’s decline shows the strength of the Premier League that even the four-time champions can suffer so much.
“Man City, with their strength and depth, amazing manager, everything, still find it tough against everyone else in the Premier League,” he said. “They hadn’t for years, but they are now and that’s because the Premier League’s a powerful league.
“Even at that level, you have to get the details right.”
Join our new WhatsApp communityand receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Learn more
Amazon’s Prime Video is broadcasting the Premier League Boxing Day round of fixtures on December 26-27.
Each match can be streamed free with an Amazon Prime subscription or by signing up for an Amazon Prime 30-day free trial.
Mirror – Sport