Milner calls on City to show title credentials

Manchester City's English midfielder James Milner celebrates scoring his team's first goal during their English FA Cup third round match against Sheffield Wednesday at The Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England on January 4, 2015. PHOTO | OLI SCARFF |

What you need to know:

  • Manuel Pellegrini's side are joint top of the table with Chelsea, behind the Blues only on alphabetical order, after hitting a rich vein of form in recent weeks.
  • City hope to welcome key duo Vincent Kompany and Edin Dzeko back into the squad.

LIVERPOOL

James Milner has challenged Manchester City to seize the initiative in the Premier League title race when they face struggling Everton on Saturday.

Manuel Pellegrini's side are joint top of the table with Chelsea, behind the Blues only on alphabetical order, after hitting a rich vein of form in recent weeks.

The reigning champions trailed Jose Mourinho's men by eight points in November and their indifferent form was raising questions over the long-term future of Pellegrini.

But those doubts have been swept aside amid a run of 13 games unbeaten in all competitions.

Their only blip during the congested festive programme was a 2-2 draw with Burnley and Milner sees no reason why momentum cannot be maintained, starting at Goodison Park this weekend.

"Hopefully we'll be looking to open up a little gap of our own," said Milner, who scored twice to seal last weekend's 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup third round.

"You look at this run (ahead) and people think it is tougher than the games we had over Christmas but - it is an old cliche in the Premier League - there are form teams and out-of-form teams. Every game is difficult.

"You've got teams at the bottom who look and think, 'We're going to win that game,' - look at Burnley coming here and how well they played.

"Sometimes it is easier to play against teams who are mid-table and pushing for Europe and are moving it around a lot more. Who knows what an easy game is? It is the Premier League.

"All we can do is concentrate on our games and if we can get the results we want to get, it depends on how Chelsea do."

MARTINEZ POSITIVE

Everton manager Roberto Martinez hopes a positive result against City can provide the catalyst for his side to start moving back up the table and away from potential relegation trouble.

A run of four successive league defeats and six from their last eight games has dragged Everton - who finished fifth last season - to within just four points of the drop zone.

They stopped the rot with a late goal from Romelu Lukaku to earn a 1-1 FA Cup third-round draw against West Ham on Monday night.

And Martinez knows his side must now produce a near flawless performance to build on that against a City side who beat Everton 1-0 in December thanks only to a fortuitous Yaya Toure penalty as part of their remarkable winning run.

"Manchester City are playing with a real swagger and arrogance," Martinez said. "They don't need many chances to punish you, which is why our performance needs to be perfect.

"But the way we performed not long ago at the Etihad, we deserved a lot more than what we got. I feel we are ready to face a team like City at this point.

"We have had four really bad results and we need to put that right. It doesn't matter what the opposition is, we have to look at what we can do.

"We know how glamorous occasions can be, facing Manchester City. It's always a really exciting game.

"But in the position we are in the league, the only thing we are looking at is to get a good, positive momentum.

"To do that you need to put a real chain of good results together and that starts with one good performance.

"I still feel this squad is strong enough to be very successful. It's time now to get a couple of positive results and see how far we can go this season."

City hope to welcome key duo Vincent Kompany and Edin Dzeko back into the squad.

But Everton won't have to contend with Yaya Toure as the midfielder is away with Ivory Coast for the Africa Cup of nations.