A fan’s eye view: Everton vs Man Utd

Saturday’s early kick off sees the Champions face David Moyes’ side at Goodison, which hasn’t been the best of places for United having failed to win on their last three visits to the blue half of Merseyside, with the teams sharing the spoils last season in a thrilling 3-3 draw where two late goals from Tim Cahill and the recently departed Mikel Arteta gained Everton a valuable point.

After the horrendous derby day defeat United suffered last Sunday at the hands of Manchester City, Sir Alex Ferguson will be expecting his team to bounce back and said how, “It’s been a tough week for everyone. It was a bad result but we have to get over it – the fans, players, employees, staff – everyone was involved in the disappointment but we may just see that recovery against Everton this Saturday.”

The teams meet after both featuring in mid-week games in the Carling Cup, with United running out comfortable 3-0 winners against Aldershot on Tuesday evening and Everton losing in Extra Time at home against Chelsea on Wednesday night.

The United side that recorded the win against Aldershot on Tuesday evening was a completely different side to that was took apart by City last Sunday and the performance midweek has left Sir Alex with a selection headache or two for Saturday’s game.

Ferguson said how, “They’ve all done well. Tom Cleverley coming back is a good thing for us; Dimitar had a fantastic game and scored a tremendous goal and Michael has a fantastic record, where every time he plays he scores and you cannot ignore that.”

Skipper Nemanja Vidic who missed out against City is also due to be back in the side against Everton and will replace the suspended Jonny Evans after his red card last weekend, Vidic, who has this week retired from international football, will be hoping his return will shore up United’s defence against David Moyes side and help his team take all 3 points.

Sir Alex is also hoping Wayne Rooney can make an impact against his former employers, it’s a game where Rooney always receives a negative reaction from the Evertonian faithful due to the way he departed the club for United. Rooney didn’t feature in last seasons tie at Goodison due to problems with his personal life and the season before he was withdrawn after receiving a yellow card.

Royston Drenthe is ruled out of the game after being sent off in the game against Chelsea and Phil Neville is a doubt after being subbed at half time in that game.

 Possible Starting Line Ups :

 Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Osman, Rodwell, Fellaini, Coleman, Cahill, Saha

Man Utd: De Gea, Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Smalling, Nani, Fletcher, Anderson, Young, Rooney, Welbeck

By Cain Wilkes