Guardiola Emphasises Gradual Improvements As Manchester City Nears Peak Performance

Pep Guardiola has encouraged Manchester City to continue improving gradually, acknowledging they are nearing their best form. He expressed satisfaction with their narrow 1-0 victory over Brentford, marking their first Premier League away win since August. Erling Haaland's early goal secured the win and placed Guardiola alongside Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger as the third manager in English top-flight history to achieve 250 wins.Reflecting on the match, Guardiola noted his team's progress but emphasized the need for further improvement. "We had an outstanding first half [against Brentford]. We were close to our best in many things," he said. The Spaniard highlighted missed opportunities and praised Caoimhin Kelleher's saves, which made the second half challenging. "In general, really pleased, since the Manchester United game, the team grew up a lot. "Guardiola also commended Haaland, who followed his goal at Brentford with a hat-trick for Norway in World Cup qualifying. This extended his scoring streak to ten consecutive games, marking the longest run of his club and international career. "[I said to Haaland] just keep going. He has been so important to us this season," Guardiola added after the Brentford match. However, he urged wingers to contribute more goals.Everton have shown promise this season, buoyed by Jack Grealish's stoppage-time winner against Crystal Palace. They currently sit eighth in the table, two points behind City. David Moyes' side is further motivated by James Tarkowski's contract renewal, who sees European qualification as achievable for Everton this season.Erling Haaland has scored nine goals in City's seven Premier League matches this season. If he scores against Everton, it would be only the third time a player reaches 10+ goals in a team's first eight games of a season in this competition. Iliman Ndiaye is Everton's leading league scorer under Moyes with nine goals and has converted all three Premier League penalties he's taken for Everton.Manchester City enter Saturday's clash at Etihad Stadium as strong favourites. They remain unbeaten in their last 16 Premier League encounters with Everton (W13 D3) since a 4-0 loss at Goodison Park in January 2017. Only against Fulham (20), West Brom (19), and West Ham (19) do they have longer unbeaten runs.

Match Prediction and Statistics

City are averaging more points-per-game than any other team in the Premier League across 2025 (2.04 – 53 points from 26 matches). They are also the league's top scorers this calendar year with 55 goals and have secured joint-most wins (16), level with Liverpool. Meanwhile, Everton haven't won away against City in their last 14 attempts (D6 L8) since December 2010 during Moyes' first spell.Despite this record, Everton have reasons for optimism having won six of their last ten Premier League games—matching their previous 27 results combined—and four of their last seven away matches (L3). This comes after winning only three of their prior 26 away games (D10 L13).