Preview: Everton v City

It's probably fair to say that relations between the two great clubs who will do battle on Saturday eve won't be the same again following the transfer of a certain centre-half in August. It's a shame, it's a fabulous away day, and there is, or at least were obvious similarities between the two, both struggling to step out of their city neighbours' shadows, not to mention being the neutrals favourites within their respective boundaries.

Sadly we're now public enemy number one in the eyes of some of the Football365-fed tools of various rivals, none more so it seems than the Goodison faithful. How much of that is really down to us being so kind as to reward them in the form of cash readies for one of their players is questionable. Most likely a fair part of it is due to their own chairman's reluctance to find investment to enable them to keep up with the Joneses, but y'know, fuck 'em.

Everton will of course still be without their two best players, well, behind Jo, of course. Mikel Arteta's not played for almost a year now and has been a big loss for the league. Phil Jagielka picked up his injury during an innocuous challenge during last season's corresponding fixture, both are due back within the next month or so.

Also missing is Jack Rodwell, linked with a £15m move here recently. Tony Hibbert (groin) and Victor Anichebe (knee) are both out, and Dan Gosling and former Blue Sylvain Distin are doubtful with hamstring problems, though with Joseph Yobo being on international duty Sylvain could be rushed back. Yakubu is also part of that Nigeria squad in Angola.

Our injury situation does seem to be getting better. Pat Vieira, Stevie Ireland and SWP could all fatten a subs bench that was looking short of experience. Nedum Onuoha should be back within a fortnight, leaving only Wayne Bridge, Joleon Lescott & Michael Johnson out of the picture, with Kolo Toure away and Emmanuel Adebayor on a leave of absence.

Given the events of the summer i'm sure Everton will be really up for this one. The signing of Joleon Lescott could have certainly been handled better, but the overreaction to it all was silly to say the least. Kenwright wanted to sell, Moyes knew he was getting a great price but pretended to be aghast with rage to squeeze a few more quid out of it, the player wanted to move. The hysterics that followed were quite daft.

On Saturday we'll face an extremely hostile and colourful atmosphere, i'm sure our players will relish it. Often in these sort of ties, where a home side is struggling and desperate for points, and the visitors are in form and known for their passing football, we've seen it when Arsenal travel to places like Stoke, or Bolton, the result can come down to whoever wins the physical battle. Not that Everton are especially negative or direct, they can play, but they'll want to make a statement, and the likes of Cahill, Fellaini & Neville will set out to unsettle us, and rightly so.

I expect Phyllis will shift to right-back in light of Tony Hibbert's injury and Lucas Neill's move to Turkey. That certainly makes for an interesting duel with Craig Bellamy, assuming Benjani's assists on Monday night mean he keeps his spot alongside top scorer Tevez. Joseph Yobo being away is a slight disappointment, he's looked extremely dodgy in Jagielka's absence.

Everton will almost certainly play with Tim Cahill off the in-form Louis Saha, the Frenchman regularly on the scoresheet this year and interestingly out-of-contract in the summer. Landon Donovan impressed on his debut and may get the nod over Emirates goalscorer Leon Osman. Javi Garrido had a mixed game midweek, occasionally demonstrating decent, common sense defending, but struggled when Pedersen moved flanks. Donovan's trickery cutting in could trouble him, as we saw with Adam Johnson against Boro.

Until quite recently the short trip to Goodison was one we perhaps looked at and imagined a point might be our best chance of a result. The way we're playing at the minute, however - scoring regularly, generally being well-organised, defending stoutly, i think we'll get at the very least a draw, and should it happen it would set us up nicely for a month that promises to define our season.

Possible teams:
Everton: Howard, Chuckle, Baines, Heitinga, Distin, Fellaini, Donovan, Pienaar, Cahill, Saha, Bilyaletdinov

City: Given, Zabaleta, Garrido, Richards, Kompany, de Jong, Petrov, Barry, Benjani, Tevez, Bellamy

Prediction: Everton 1 City 2