Manchester City face Everton in the Saturday evening game, hoping to keep the momentum up going into the Christmas period.

Manager Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed that both left back Aleksandar Kolarov and striker Edin Dzeko will return to the squad after injury. Unfortunately, Stefan Jovetic will miss out after picking up a knock.

It doesn’t look like captain Vincent Kompany will be fit in time for this game, with Pellegrini eyeing a hopeful return for the Wednesday game against Roma for the Belgian.

Everton present arguably the biggest challenge Manchester City will face for a while in the Premier League, and a win on Saturday would definitely place City in a good position to go on an unbeaten run at this notoriously tricky part of the season. Luckily for City, Steven Naismith is out, as the Scottish forward could have put City’s back line under a fair amount of pressure, especially when it came to getting the second ball.

. Manchester City’s full-backs will have to make sure they do not become too far separated from the center backs

Romelu Lukaku looks the obvious danger-man, with his speed and strength combined with his ability to take a run at defenders basically anywhere along the back line providing cause for concern. Manchester City’s full-backs will have to make sure they do not become too far separated from the center backs, as if you give Lukaku that kind of space he will punish you.

Offensively you would assume that Pellegrini will revert to the Dzeko-Aguero partnership up front, supported by Navas and Nasri on either side. It’s unfortunate that Jovetic isn’t fit for this game, as his pace would surely have caused Sylvain Distin problems, as he was caught out a few times against a Hull side midweek using similar tactics.

Yaya Toure hasn’t trained today, Pellegrini describing the Ivorian’s omission as a “precaution” and said that he should be in the match day squad tomorrow. A partnership of Toure and Fernandinho should provide enough balance to undo an Everton side that is under performing this season.

It is probably too soon for Kolarov to come straight back into the starting line up, and especially with the Roma game in mind he may only be used in an emergency. There is a possibility that Zabaleta may be rested for the same reason, with Sagna taking his place, but you would hope Pellegrini sees the need for a degree of consistency in keeping Manchester City’s excellent run going.

Predicted Lineup: Hart, Zabaleta, Demichelis, Mangala, Clichy, Fernandinho, Toure, Navas, Nasri, Aguero, Dzeko.