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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Simon Collings

Sean Dyche fires warning at Man City as Everton prepare to make Goodison Park a fortress

Everton boss Sean Dyche has warned Manchester City to expect a hostile atmosphere when they travel to Goodison Park on Sunday.

City are currently one point clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, with a game in hand, but they can extend their lead to four with a win over the Toffees.

Pep Guardiola’s side kick-off at 2pm on Sunday, with Arsenal’s game at home to Brighton taking place later that afternoon.

Dyche has warned City to expect a tough test, though, with Everton high on confidence after winning 5-1 at Brighton on Monday to climb to 17th and out of the relegation places.

“I’m sure the Evertonians will back us as they do, it’ll be a really good atmosphere for us to go and play in,” said Dyche.

“The message will be simple; just take it on. It’s a big challenge obviously. But it’s about taking it on with the mentality we showed at Brighton.

“All the details have got to be right against Manchester City. You might need them to have a soft one, and your key players play well, all of them things go in the melting pot. Yet, it’s still about us taking the game on.”

Guardiola is expected to make changes for the game given it is sandwiched in the middle of City’s Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.

City drew the first leg in Madrid 1-1 on Tuesday and will host the reigning European champions in the second leg on Wednesday.

Guardiola made no substitutes during the game on Tuesday and as a result the likes of Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez are primed to come into the team for the trip to Goodison.

City are currently chasing the treble and also have an FA Cup final against Manchester United on June 3 on the horizon too.

“We want to win it [Champions League],” said midfielder Jack Grealish. “It’s something we haven’t got yet.

"We’re not just playing for the Champions League this year; we’re playing for the FA Cup and the league title as well. We’re a very confident side at the moment.”

City were without left-back Nathan Ake for Tuesday’s draw in Madrid and he was due to be assessed to see if he could play this weekend. Ake was forced to come off with a muscle issue during last weekend’s win over Leeds.

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