Goodison Tactics: Big chance for Everton if Aguero starts on Saturday
In one sense the FA Cup clash against Man City comes at a good time. In another, it’s bad.
Man City have played four games in the last two weeks to Everton’s two. They lost one of these games to Man United, losing their sheen of invincibility. They also had a Champions League encounter on Tuesday when Pep Guardiola put out a strong side.
You might think that rotation would be a factor on Saturday.
However, City are fighting for an incredible quadruple and Pep won’t be taking his foot off the pedal at all. Plus, his squad is so deep he can rotate and still hurt you.
There could be one weakness.
One player that was rested on Tuesday is Sergio Aguero. He got 15 minutes in the game against Gladbach and he wasn’t too happy when he came off the pitch.
He was seen to say, “They don’t pass me the ball”, to goalkeeper coach Xabier Mancisidor and went straight off down the tunnel. [The Mirror]
He’s only made four starts all season after a bout of Covid and injuries, and while he got on the scoresheet against Fulham last week, it was from the penalty spot.
We think he starts on Saturday and, as counter-intuitive as this sounds for such a great striker, it could be great for Everton.
Aguero is out of contract in the summer, seemingly not that happy and out of form.
His City side has reached new heights this season and Aguero doesn’t seem up to speed. That’s not surprising given the amount of games he’s had.
He played 93 minutes against Fulham but only had two shots and an xG of 0.8, despite scoring from the spot. [WyScout]
In the 21 minutes he got against Southampton in the game before he had one shot with an xG of 0.06 and just five actions all game.
In the 18 minutes against Borussia Mönchengladbach he had just 6 actions, 0 shots and made just three passes.
None of these passes were progressive and all of them came from deep.
The first was a backwards pass and was the furthest forward of the three he made in the game.
The second was in his own half, a short lay-off to Oleksandr Zinchenko
The third was another very short lay-off to Zinchenko deep in his own half.
It’s fair to say that Man City look far less of a threat when he’s on the pitch at the moment, compared to the City side that’s been in full attacking flow recently, with Sterling, Foden, Gundogan and De Bruyne swapping and bedazzling defences.
You don’t have to go too far back to when Aguero could strike fear into the hearts of any opposition.
Now, we’re hoping that he’s in the starting XI on Saturday.
In other Everton news, Goodison Tactics: Calvert-Lewin must roll back the months in FA Cup clash v Man City