Cascarino: Everton face ‘really tough afternoon’ in Man City cup clash
Everton are set for a ‘really tough afternoon’ in their FA Cup quarter-final clash against Manchester City, according to talkSPORT pundit Tony Cascarino.
City will travel to Goodison Park in scintillating form, with Pep Guardiola’s men having won 24 of their last 25 games in all competitions prior to facing the Toffees.
Everton meanwhile have struggled in recent weeks, having followed up an impressive winning run with back-to-back Premier League defeats to Chelsea and Burnley.
Carlo Ancelotti is aiming to end Everton’s near 26 year wait for a trophy this season with victory in the FA Cup, but the Blues couldn’t have hoped for a more difficult opponent at this stage.
Talking live on talkSPORT this morning (7:16am on 20/3/21), former Ireland international forward Cascarino explained the difficult that Everton will face against the league leaders.
Cascarino said: “[Manchester] City can exploit every position. Every one of their positions can exploit what you do. That’s how difficult it is against City, they’re not a one trick pony. That’s what City are like, they can produce so much from many different areas of the pitch.
“Of course, Everton in a one off 90 minutes game can get through, but I think City are the worst team you can get, and they can take you apart.
“I think it’s going to be a really touch afternoon for Evertonians.”
Can’t argue with that
There’s absolutely no denying that Everton will face a difficult test against Manchester City this afternoon.
City have been on fire since December, and the Toffees have been inconsistent at best, making the FA Cup contest somewhat of a mismatch.
City aren’t unbeatable though, and that is something that Cascarino touched upon. Everton have beaten Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester this season, as well as Tottenham on two occasions, so the Blues have shown that they’re capable.
Everton have actually been more consistent against top tier opposition this season than they have against the so-called ‘lesser’ clubs, so it isn’t outside the realm of possibility that Ancelotti could lead his side to the FA Cup semi-final.
However he’ll need his players to dig deep in order to beat Guardiola’s City, who have such a staggering squad depth that they could play their second string and still expect to win comfortably.
It won’t come easy to Everton, but the club are capable of progressing to the next round if they can rise to the occasion.