Everton out to protect Capital One Cup lead in Man City clash

Manchester City v Everton

• Capital One Cup semi-final, second leg
• Wednesday, January 27th
• Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
• The Etihad Stadium, Manchester
• Live on Sky Sports 1

Toffees target Wembley with man City coup

Roberto Martinez’s Everton enter their Capital One Cup second leg encounterwith Manchester City aiming to capitalise on their 2-1 advantage from the first meeting, but arrive at a ground they have not won at since December 2010.

Since that last victory at the Etihad, the Toffees have suffered five unsuccessful trips to the blue half of Manchester, but the visitors managed to hold their cup opponents to a scoreless Premier League draw recently following their first leg triumph.

That previous League Cup defeat was the Sky Blues’ only loss in eight outings across all competitions, though that includes three draws with Leicester City, Everton and West Bromwich Albion, making the Toffees 5/1 with Coral for another win in 90 minutes.

Baines backs teammates to deliver

Martinez’s men have suffered a decline in form in recent weeks ahead of this crucial cup clash, having won on just two occasions in their previous seven games on all fronts, dropping down to 12th in the top-flight table.

Although, despite their hapless streak, England international left back Leighton Baines is confident his teammates can deliver a trip to Wembley for the Goodison Park faithful by maintaining their first leg lead (5/4 to reach final).

“Getting to the final is massive for all of us,” he stated. “It’s a tough semi to come through and you don’t always want to talk too much about what it might mean, because there is still a lot of work to do before then.

“But the truth of it is, we know we can beat Manchester City. We have just beaten them in the first leg and drawn against them in the league and another result like that would see us through.

“So we have just got to match what we have done in our last couple of games against them and we will be in the final.”

Silverware up for grabs

Everton midfielder Gareth Barry recently banished any hopes his side had of reaching a top four position this season, but silverware is there for the taking if they can overcome City, who are 19/10 to prevail without conceding.

The visitors arrive in Manchester having won just one of their last 10 league matches, but they should not lack confidence on the road, with just a single defeat from their previous 14 games away from Merseyside.

Belgian target man Romelu Lukaku has been key to any success and struck the first leg winner, making him 6/1 to net the game’s last goal again in 90 minutes, while in-form former Barcelona wideman Gerard Deulofeu is 11/2 to dispatch anytime.

For the hosts, Sergio Aguero will be the main threat as usual, and the clinical Argentine is 3/1 to bag a brace or more this time out (£20 max stake), with his fellow forwards Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling both 5/4 to get their name on the scoresheet in normal time.