Pep Guardiola says what Everton are ‘really good’ at amid Goodison Park point

Everton face Manchester City in the Premier League at Goodison Park on Sunday.
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Pep Guardiola is wary of the ‘really good’ physical threat that Everton will pose to Manchester City when the two sides meet at Goodison Park on Sunday.

The Toffees have three games remaining to save their Premier League status. They currently sit in 17th and two points clear of the drop zone but know the stiff task they face against the imperious leaders and reigning champions City.

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Everton do head into the encounter following an emphatic 5-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion earlier this week. City, meanwhile, are gunning for a treble and earned a 1-1 draw against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu last Tuesday.

With Real visiting the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, City could be tempted to make the clash against Everton of less importance given their burning desire to finally be crowned kings of Europe.

But Guardiola, speaking at his pre-match press conference, insists it is a ‘priority’ to win at Goodison Park to ensure his side stay ahead of Arsenal in the title race.

He said: “Because we’ve got two Champions League games (either side of the game). Since I’ve been here, it’s always been so difficult, because of the environment, they’re a front-foot team. The end of the season is really final, so our focus is on this game. My thought is just Everton. No more than that. It’s been 11 months working for the Premier League.

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He said: “We don’t have much time from Madrid because we play on Sunday, thank you so much. But it’s a real, real priority Goodison Park. We play for all competitions. We have to switch. Adapt. Four games left in the Premier League and it’s important to us to be there, to keep what we play for in our hands. We train tomorrow and we have to prepare as well as possible.

“There was big results in the Premier League but we thought in the last games everyone plays for something and it will be tough. It can happen. They (Everton) scored the first goal (vs Brighton) in the first minute, a surprise for the two early goals, the physicality Everton have is really, really good. Anything can happen.”