Manchester City extended the bright run of results as they hammered Sunderland on the road and now aim to make it five on the bounce by defeating Everton.

The Toffees suffered another setback as they could only share spoils with Hull City at Goodison, and they now face an even tougher task.

This season did not have the best of starts for Manchester City, who struggled in both the Premier League and Champions League, but it appears they are slowly returning to the right track.

The Citizens can still qualify for the CL knockout stages with a good result at Stadio Olimpico, while they have also been showing improvement on domestic stage.

Manuel Pellegrini’s charges still trail leaders Chelsea by six points, but they have been raising their form of late, winning last three league matches.

The hard-fought triumph over Bayern Munich seems to have been just the boost they needed to turn things around, with comfortable wins over Southampton and Sunderland following.

And with their next opponents going through a rough patch at the moment, bear in mind Manchester City are 1.53 (8/15) to see off Everton as well.

Manuel Pellegrini will have Eliaquim Mangala back from suspension, but Vincent Kompany, Edin Dzeko and Aleks Kolarov are out injured, while David Silva is a major doubt.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Hart – Zabaleta, Mangala, Demichelis, Clichy – Toure, Fernandinho – Navas, Nasri, Jovetic – Aguero.

Top 4 contenders Everton have struggled to live up to the billing this season and they already sit seven points behind Champions League positions.

The Toffees have been pretty inconsistent in the opening exchanges, having only once recorded back to back wins in the Premier League.

And while Everton impressed to secure the first position in their Europa League group with one game to go, they desperately need to get their league campaign back on track.

Europa League travels seem to have placed a strain on Roberto Martinez’s side as the Toffees first lost to Tottenham at White Hart Lane before only mustering a 1-1 draw with Hull City at home.

Everton are now available at 2.80 (9/5) not to lose at Etihad, but I see virtually no value in those odds given the current form of the two sides.

Roberto Martinez again faces a genuine selection headache with Stones, Gibson and Alcaraz out injured and McCarthy, Naismith and Oviedo facing fitness tests.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Howard – Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines – Besic, Barry – Osman, Barkley, McGeady – Lukaku.