How Everton went from Man City bogey side to regular Premier League victims

In a parallel universe, Everton are several points clear of Liverpool in their bid to clock up their fourth Premier League title in five years … and Manchester City are facing yet another relegation struggle.

Instead, when the Blues of Merseyside and Manchester square up on Saturday night in our reality, the situation is reversed, with Pep Guardiola ’s side aiming to keep the Toffees’ neighbours at arm’s length.

If City manage a win at Goodison Park, they will chalk up a remarkable NINTH successive win over Everton - not a bad record against a side that was, until fairly recently, seen as City’s bogey team.

The Blues used to have a dreadful record against Everton. After the 2008 takeover, they lost seven of the next ten meetings with the 'other' Merseysiders - a worse record than they had against Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea in the same period.

Why that should be was something of a mystery. Everton were always competitive and tough to beat in that spell, under David Moyes. They did not finish lower than eighth in those first five seasons after City suddenly became “the richest club in the world”. But they did not secure any top-four finish, either.

Perhaps it was the sense of injustice that City had the football equivalent of a lottery win when the Abu Dhabi United Group was seeking an English club in which to invest, and settled on City.

Had Everton moved more quickly from their antiquated Goodison Park ground, it could easily have been them that attracted the riches.

Everton chairman Bill Kenwright revealed in 2011 that he felt his club could have been the beneficiaries had they had a new stadium either planned or in place, and had he been “in the right place at the right time”.

But City’s 2003 move