Manchester City – Everton: Pep’s Plight Knows No Bounds (1-1)

At first glance, this contest contained the hallmarks of many previous battles. But this Boxing Day bout was the latest demonstration that the former heavyweight champion cannot launch the same powerful punch from yesteryear. And their coach is still stuck at the drawing board.

Tactical analysis and match report by Emmanuel Adeyemi-Abere.

From formidable to fragile: the form of Manchester City has been barely believable in the previous two months. The club has collapsed, suffering a streak of just one win in their last twelve fixtures across all competitions. The reigning champions are already 12 points adrift of the Premier League leaders Liverpool, who have also played one less match. Aspirations of an unprecedented fifth title on the trot are dead. Now, they are breaking records of an ugly kind and do not know where to turn.

Everton escaped their purgatory as Farhad Moshiri has sold his shares in the club. The Friedkin Group galvanizes the camp in a month when spirits have stayed high. Following a 4-0 defeat of Wolves, a resolute rearguard was responsible for two extra points. Successive shutouts against Arsenal and then Chelsea frustrated the ambitions of two title contenders. Those two clean sheets tally up to seven for the side since the start of October— the most for any team in Europe's top five leagues in that time.

As Sean Dyche digs the team out of trouble, he called on the services of an elder statesman to plug a hole. Séamus Coleman came . . .