Our David John thinks Everton have been underestimated for Monday night's Premier League trip to Manchester City.
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Manchester City v Everton (2000 BST, Sky Sports Premier League)
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It is off to the Etihad Stadium for some prime time Monday night action and a fascinating encounter to round off the second week of games.
The money has been flowing between clubs over the summer and Everton have certainly been one of the teams, if not the team, of the transfer window.
It is down to the sort of business they have conducted why manager Ronald Koeman jumped ship from a solid Southampton outfit in a bid to fulfil his ambitions in the Premier League and finally landing £40million Gylfi Sigurdsson is another strong statement of intent.
There is a fair chance further names could be added too and a real buzz around Goodison Park is growing in anticipation of establishing a strong challenge to make the top four this season.
Everton are well into their competitive action having started at the end of last month in Europa League qualification and the quality of football has started to improve noticeably.
It is still a learning curve for many of the new faces but things have clicked in terms of sharpness over the last week, culminating in an alert first-half display against Hajduk Split which gives them a 2-0 lead heading into Thursday’s second leg.
It would be a great shame if they fluffed their lines and failed to make the group stages of that event but they won’t have a huge amount of time to recover from this trip to City – far and away the toughest quest of a burgeoning new era on the blue side of Stanley Park.
City remain title favourites but are already under pressure following an excellent start from the team across Manchester so any sort of early slip-up will be considered a valuable loss of momentum.
There was enough quality on the field to winkle out a 2-0 victory at newly promoted Brighton last week but manager Pep Guardiola was asked whether he had seen the improvement he wanted from his high-octane front line – the Spaniard said “no”.
That suggests he still wants another quality addition up top while a rather unexpected – but understandable – pursuit of West Brom centre-half Jonny Evans hints he is not entirely happy either in terms of depth at the back despite some significant summer strengthening.
Regardless, the home side retain the ability to make any bet against them look very silly with David Silva and Sergio Aguero in good nick at the Amex Stadium but my word, they are extremely short in the betting for this match.
Everton are as big as 11/1 but should not be dismissed quite so readily. The defence has not conceded a goal as they begin to gel while Jordan Pickford behind them is a very special talent indeed.
His skills will in all likelihood be seriously tested for the first time in an Everton jersey but is a tremendous shot-stopper as he proved almost every week last season while having his goal constantly peppered with hapless Sunderland.
Former Red Devil Wayne Rooney will be relishing another crack at this rival and although hardly season-defining, the visitors can begin to turn a few more heads with a bold performance.
How much we get to see of Sigurdsson remains open to debate as he must still prove his fitness but his new team-mates seem pretty much up to speed and should have little excuse on that front.
The cavalier among you might even want to have a small investment on a shock away victory while a Double Chance option on the Toffees also appeals for the slightly more conservative.
However, I am going to try to chisel out less of a profit with a rock-solid two-goal start on the handicap for a visiting side that took four points from two encounters against City last season and have gone up a notch since.
Prediction: Manchester City 1-1 Everton - Sky Bet's scoreline odds: 9/1
Posted at 1615 BST on 20/08/17.
