Everton v Manchester United
Football : English Premier League
Saturday 11 September 2010 - Kickoff 12:45pm

This game is live on TV

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Everton

Everton have failed to live up to the pre-season hype so far as they have struggled to pick up points. The performances in the last 2 games have been stronger but with 1 point all to show from the 9 available gives this game even more importance for the home side.

The Toffees sit in 18th place in the early Premier League table and drew their only game at Goodison Park in the League with Wolverhampton Wanderers. A bigger concern for David Moyes will be the lack of chances they have taken, with only 1 goal in their 3 League games. Everton have failed to keep a clean sheet in their 4 competitive games so far this season.

The fans at Everton feel this is the strongest squad they have had since David Moyes arrived as manager and, for the first time, their squad is injury free giving the manager the chance to name his strongest line up.

EDIT: Jack Rodwell has torn his ligaments and will be out until Christmas while Louis Saha has come back from international duty with an injury and will not take part against his former club.

Possible Everton Line Up: Howard, Jagielka, Heitinga, Distin, Baines, Fellaini, Rodwell, Pienaar, Arteta, Cahill and Saha (4-5-1)

Manchester United

Manchester United have made a strong start to the new season as they look to keep tabs on Chelsea who really have started the season on fire. All the stories surrounding Wayne Rooney were broken during the international period and the striker can surely expect another 'warm' Goodison Park welcome.

The Red Devils started the season with 2 comfortable wins at Old Trafford but had a tough encounter at Fulham where the points were shared after a late equaliser for the home side. United were the strongest away side in the Premier League last season, but this is going to be a tough venue for them to travel to.

Rio Ferdinand came through a reserve game during the international period and could be in line to make his comeback here, if not the Rangers game on Tuesday night. Anderson is back in training but not quite ready yet while Owen Hargreaves was registered with the squad but is not near a comeback as of yet.

Possible Manchester United Line Up: Van der Sar, O'Shea, Evra, Vidic, Evans, Fletcher, Scholes, Carrick, Valencia, Nani and Rooney (4-3-3)

Head to Head

Everton have not had the most success against Manchester United in recent seasons, and they had failed to beat the Red Devils in 9 consecutive Premier League games before the 3-1 success at Goodison Park last season.

United have failed to win in their last 2 visits to Goodison Park but they have won 7 of their last 10 in the Blue Half of Merseyside and there has only been 1 draw in that time.

Prediction

Everton are very close to getting the results that people expect. The performance against Aston Villa was perfect in almost every way except they could not find the back of the net, the most important aspect of a football match. They have been susceptible to losing games early in the season at Goodison Park which does not bode well for them.

Manchester United will feel they should have had 9 points from their opening 3 games. The performances at Old Trafford have been made easier by their opposition, but United did struggle a little bit against a confident Fulham side at Craven Cottage. However, Rooney was missing from the side that day and his inclusion here swings things in United's favour.

This is a really tough venue for sides to come to, but I am favouring an away win for a couple of reasons. Everton have not really begun the season in a bright fashion and they seem to take a bit of time getting into their stride. Last season they lost 2 of their first 7 here and the year before they failed to win any of their first 5 at Goodison.

Over the last 10 years, United have met Everton 5 times in the opening 2 months of the season, winning 4 of those games, most recently in 2007. I think the Red Devils have a chance of picking up a valuable 3 points from a venue that others will struggle at here and the price looks big enough to take an interest in.

The Pick :

Everton 1-2 Manchester United

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Manchester United WIN at a big looking price