Season › 2013-14 › News Manchester City vs Everton Lyndon Lloyd , 4 October, 0comments | Jump to most recent Match Preview Six games into the 2013-14 season, Everton remain the only unbeaten team in the Premier League as the frustration of three draws to start the campaign has given way to the immense satisfaction of recording three League wins on the bounce. Monday's victory over Newcastle under the Goodison lights lifted the Blues into the familiar environs of the top four, a spot they held until Christmas last year after an unusually strong start under David Moyes, but they face their sternest test of Roberto Martinez's tenure so far when they travel to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City. The deposed Champions replaced Roberto Mancini with Manuel Pellegrini and spent big over the summer, leading many oddsmakers to install them alongside Chelsea as hot favourites to challenge Manchester United for the Premier League Title this season. However, erratic form thus far means that Martinez's Everton sit above them in the table coming into this weekend's programme. Successive defeats to Aston Villa last Saturday and Bayern Munich have checked City's progress on the domestic and European fronts and led many to question whether the malaise that afflicted Mancini's expensively-assembled but disjointed side remains a blight on the Pellegrini reign. Article continues below video content Though their dressing down by Bayern took place on their own turf at the Etihad Stadium, their last home game in the Premier League was a comprehensive dismantling of neighbours Manchester United and there will likely be a forceful attempt by Pellegrini's men to make a statement of intent to get their season back on an even keel this weekend. Martinez used his Thursday press conference to express that he is under no illusions about the size of the task that awaits his team but, by the same token, having seen off Chelsea already this season, his players will travel up the M62 with confidence that they can exploit any doubt in City's minds and spring a surprise. Everton will have to do without new central midfield linchpin, Gareth Barry, though, as the loanee is ineligible to face his parent club and with Darron Gibson struggling to attain 100% fitness after mostly recovering from a knee injury, Martinez may have to do some reorganising in midfield. He has options, however, including James McCarthy being asked to fill in as the holding midfielder alongside Leon Osman and deploying Steven Naismith wide right, or handing John Heitinga a rare appearance in the defensive midfield role and keeping McCarthy further forward. Naismith may end up being a guaranteed starter anyway as Kevin Mirallas is a doubt after twisting his ankle taking a corner in the first half on Monday night but it's hard to see any changes in defence or up front. This side of Manchester has been a relatively happy hunting ground for the Blues in recent years, of course, where they have won on four of their last six visits and might have triumphed again last season were it not for a scandalous decision by referee Lee Probert that gifted City an equaliser via the penalty spot. What should be uppermost in Martinez's mind is that, if his team can get at City and strike early, they can hopefully unsettle them and grow further those seeds of self-doubt in the former Champions' minds. As Villa and Cardiff before them demonstrated, they can be vulnerable when seriously examined and there is opportunity there for Everton while Romelu Lukaku is on the prowl. » Read more Memory Lane – Match 7 Live Matchday Forum Betting Preview About these ads © ToffeeWeb