- ... not a bad start to the season!

- we've won 4 games in a row many times
- the last time came in a run of 5 consecutive wins in August/September last year

- and we've kept 4 clean sheets in a row quite a few times too
- the last time was in September 2009

- and that was also the last time we won 4 games on the bounce, all with clean sheets

- but we've never before won 4 games in a row all with clean sheets at the start of a seaon!

- Jordan Pickford played his 3rd game for us against Hajduk - and kept his 3rd successive clean sheet!
- only 2 other goalkeepers have kept clean sheets in each of their first 3 Everton appearances
- they were Thomas Myhre in 1997 and James Caldwell in 1912

- the match was the 40th Thursday game in our history in all competitions
- and the 1st time we've ever faced Croatian opposition

- and it was our 12th home Europa League game - and we've still never drawn one!
- our record is W9 D0 L3 - F25 A8

- talking of draws,we've now gone 16 home games in a row in all competitions without one!
- the last one was against Man Utd in December 2016

- the last time we went that long without drawing at home was way back in 1970
- that was a 16-game spell that had started at the end of the 1968/69 season in April 1969
- and went on until January 1970

- we've got a long way to go to break our record home run without a draw, though
- that stands at an amazing 47 matches!
- it ran from September 1930 to October 1932!

- congratulations to Michael Keane who scored his first goal for the club against Split
- he's the 514th player to score for us in all competitions (not including own goals)

- and he and Idrissa Gueye both notched their first European goals for us
- that's 64 different scorers for the club now in European competition

- the 2 goals also took us up to 51 at home in all competitions under Ronald Koeman's management!

- Ademola Lookman made his first European appearance for us against the Croatians
- 187 players have now turned out for us in Europe, 169 of them as a starter

- Leighton Baines made his 357th start for us in all competitions in the game
- he's now in joint 20th place on our All-Time Starts chart, level with Leon Osman and Kevin Sheedy!

- Bainesy's latest start also moved him on to 20 European starts for the club
- that puts him equal second on our European Starts chart, level with Tony Hibbert!
- Tim Howard heads that list on 28 European starts for us

- in terms of European appearances (starts plus subs) Leighton is now up to 22
- he's joint 4th with Phil Jagielka on our European Appearances list
- Tim Howard heads that list too on 28

- oh, and Wayne Rooney was playing on the 15th anniversary of his Everton debut!
- that was against Tottenham in 2002, you may remember!

- and so on to Man City away on August 21st!

- we've never played Citeh on that date before
- and our last Aug 21 outing ended in a 1-1 home draw with Wolves in 2010

- our previous 3 games on August 21st all ended in victory
- including our last away win on that date 1-0 at Bolton in 2005

- and in fact, we've only ever lost 1 game before on August 21st - and 0 away from Goodison!
- our overall record is W7 D3 L1 and away from home it's W4 D1 L0

- we've had a couple of stand-out August 21st games in the past

- our 5-2 win at Sheff Utd in 1954 marked the start of our current unbroken run in the Top Flight

- and our 4-1 home win over Southampton in 1999 included Richard Gough's only goal for the club
- that makes him our oldest ever Premier League goalscorer at 37 years and 138 days!

- we won the last time we met Man City, 4-0 at Goodison last January
- that was the game that memorably featured Tom Davies and Ademola Lookman's first goals for us!
- and it was Morgan Schneiderlin's debut too!

- our last trip to their place ended 1-1 in October 2016
- another memorable clash - with Maarten Stekelenburg saving 2 penalties!

- that was only the 2nd time an Everton keeper had managed the feat
- Tommy Fern at Sunderland in December 1921 being the other

- we've won 0 of our last 7 visits to the Etihad in all competitions - W0 D3 L4
- that run includes our 3-1 League Cup Semi-Final defeat in January 2016

- our last victory there was a 2-1 success in December 2010
- that was the last in a run of 4 successive away wins there for us, with Tim Cahill scoring in 3 of them!

- it will be our 90th away meeting with Citeh in all competitions, by the way
- and a defeat would be our 50th away loss to them in those games

- overall, at all venues in all meetings, we have a perfectly balanced record against them!
- W68 D46 L68 - F246 A246!

- the match will be Ronald Koeman's 40th League game in charge of us home and away
- so far his record is W18 D10 L11 - F63 A44

- away from home it'll be match number 20 for him in the Prem for us
- not such a great record outside of Goodison: W4 D6 L9 - F20 A28

- if he starts at the Etihad it will be Leighton Baines's 358th start for us in all competitions
- that would put him into joint 19th place on our All-Time Starts chart
- Leighton would be level with 1950s/60s legend Brian Harris

- if Wayne Rooney starts it will be his 42nd start for us in the Premier League
- he'd move level with Francis Jeffers on our Prem Starts chart
- interesting to compare their Prem records for us:
- Jeffers - 42 starts 25 subs 18 goals
- Rooney - 41 starts 27 subs 16 goals

- if Muhamed Besic plays, by the way, it will be his 50th appearance for us in all competitions
- he's currently made 31 starts plus 18 as a sub

- oh, and if Kevin Mirallas makes a substitute appearance it will be his 57th for us
- that will put him level with Stuart Barlow in 6th place on our All-Time Sub Appearances chart!

- Phil Jagielka will be 35 years and 4 days old on the day of the Man Citeh game
- if he plays he will become the 32nd player aged 35 or over to play for us!

- and if he does play Jags' Everton career will have stretched to 10 years & 7 days!
- Phil made his debut for us as a sub in a 3-1 win at Tottenham on 14th August 2007

- Phil would become the 42nd player to have a 10 year + Everton career in an unbroken spell at the club!
  (and Leighton Baines will join him in his first Everton game after 25th August this year!)

- can we win again?!
- can we keep another clean sheet?!!

- the last time we won 5 games on the run was not that long ago - August/September 2016 in fact

- but the last time we won our first 5 games of the season was a long, long time ago
- it was in August/September 1938!
- we won our first 6 matches of that title-winning campaign in 1938/39!

- overall, we've won our first 5 games of the season on just 4 occasions in total
- in addition to 1938/39 it also happened in 1930/31 (5 successive wins), 1894/95 (8) and 1890/91 (5)

- our final League positions in those 4 seasons is interesting
- 1938/39 - 1st in Division 1, 1930/31 - 1st in Division 2,
- 1894/95 - 2nd in Division 1, 1890/91 - 1st in Division 1!

- the last time we had 5 successive clean sheets was in a 6-match run from December 2008 - January 2009

- but we've never had 5 clean sheets in a row at the start of a season before
- indeed the most we've ever had is 3 - and that was on just one occasion in 1912/13!

- obviously, then, we've never before won our first 5 games of the season all with clean sheets!

- if we don't win at Citeh it will take our run without an away League victory to 9 matches
- that'll be our worst run since a sequence of 10 away Prem games without a win that ended in Sep 2013

- Bobby Madley will referee the match
- he's reffed us 4 times away from home before - we won the first but we've lost all of the last 3
- his most recent non-Goodison appointment was our woeful 5-0 defeat at Chelsea last November!

- will he award a penalty?

- City have received 5 penalties in our last 6 visits there - but have missed 3 of them!
- although one miss (by Sergio Aguero) did hit the post and rebound in off Tim Howard's head!
- that was in October 2013

- a spot-kick for Citeh this time would be the 100th against us in all of our Premier League games ever!
- our opponents' current record against us in the Prem is Scored 78, Missed or Saved 21

- if they score a penalty against us it will be 300th scored against us in our League history, home and away!
- and if they miss one it will be the 100th failure by our opponents in all of our away League games ever

- and if Leighton Baines nets a penalty against City it will be his 24th spot-kick success for us
- he'd then move out on his own at the top of our 'Most Penalties Scored' chart
- he's currently level on 23 (from 26 taken) with David Unsworth (also from 26) and Trevor Steven (from 29)

- the match is of course a Monday night game with an 8.00pm kick-off

- our last 3 matches with an 8.00pm kick-off have all been away - and all have ended in draws
- the last one was also in Manchester - 1-1 at Man Utd last April

- the good news is that, whatever the kick-off time, we're unbeaten in our last 10 away Monday games
- that's a W5 D5 L0 record!
- and 2 of those most recent 5 Monday wins were at the Etihad - 2-0 in Dec 2010 and 2-1 in Feb 2008

- our last Monday away game the 2-0 win at Leicester on Boxing Day last year

- our last Monday away defeat was a 1-0 reverse at Wigan way back in 2008!

- COYB!!

- a reminder of some new sections on the site!

- who's managed the most times against Everton?
- who's managed the most clubs against us?!
- well, there's a new 'Opposition Managers' section that will tell you everything you need to know!

- the 'Goals in Most Consecutive Matches' section has been updated!
- it now includes details of which Everton players have scored in the most successive home & away games too!

- who was the last Everton man to play 50 or more games in a season?
- who has played the most games in one season?!
- the new '50 or More Appearances in a Season' section will tell you!

- on the flip side, which players only ever managed 1 game for the club?!
- find out in the new Just One Appearance section!

- we used 27 different players last season in all competitions and 19 of them scored a goal
- is that a lot?! how does it compare to other seasons?
- find out in the new 'Number of Players Used and Goal Scorers - Season-by-Season' section!

- who was the last Everton player to feature in every game in a season?!
- have a look at the new Ever Presents section to find out!

- and how often have we completed League 'doubles' over our opponents in the past?
- alternatively, how often have we been on the receiving end of a double?!
- you can now find out in the new League Doubles For and Against section

- ever wondered which Everton player has been substituted the most times?!
- well, now you can find out - have a look at the new Subbed Off section for full, fascinating details!

- Ademola Lookman scored on his Everton debut last season
- who else has managed that feat for the club?!
- have a look at the new Scored on Their Debut section to find out!

- with Wayne Rooney having returned to Everton action, who else has had 2 separate spells at the club?!
- the new Two or More Spells at Everton section will tell you!

- new boy Jordan Pickford looks like he'll be our keeper for some years to come
- but who else has appeared for us between the sticks in the past?!
- the new Goalkeepers section has all the details!

- and don't forget there's also a new History In Short section too!
- you can see at a glance how many times we've finished in each position in the League
- and where exactly we've been knocked out of the various cup competitions
- have a peek!