As Liverpool travel to Manchester City, the other two Manchester/Merseyside teams face each other in Liverpool. This should be an interesting clash as both teams are in top form at the moment.
Everton are coming off of a strong win against league leaders
Chelsea FC. The boost in morale from this match will be exactly what the Toffees need as they come up against local rivals Manchester United. Everton's midweek Europa League match against Sporting Lisbon was a dominating affair. A late mistake by defender Sylvan Distin allowed Sporting to pull one back, but the match was largely one sided. Marouane Fellaini will likely be out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury and Tim Cahill is a doubt after incurring a calf problem. Everton are traditionally strong at Goodison (6-5-2) but
David Moyes will need something extra to pull one over on the Red Devils.
Despite a run of 8 lossless matches in which they won 6,
Manchester United still remain a point behind London's Blues, Chelsea FC.
Alex Ferguson will remain optimistic, however, because his star striker Wayne Rooney is in the best form of his life. After going down 1-0 in the the first leg of their Champions League tie with AC Milan,
Wayne Rooney scored a brace to help the Red Devils take it back to Old Trafford with a one goal advantage. The young English international has been on an incredible scoring run lately, having netted 9 goals in Manchester's last 6 matches. Sir Alex has no fresh injury concerns, but John O'Shea, Ryan Giggs and Owen Hargreaves will continue to sit out. Nemanja Vidic is recovering but is still doubtful for this match.
The history between these two teams certainly favors United, but
Everton are fresh off of an upset of league leaders Chelsea. David Moyes will adopt a defensive approach but the quality of Manchester's goalscorers will not be held back for long. Expect at least 3 goals to be scored before the final whistle is blown.
Everton F.C. vs Manchester United
Saturday February 20, 2010
Kickoff: 1:45 PM (CET)
Venue: Goodison Park (Liverpool)
Tip: Over 2.5 Goals
Best Odds: 1.95 @ Bet365
