Carling Cup winners Birmingham City pay a overdue visit to Goodison Park this evening for what could be a crucial Premier League encounter for both sides. This wil be the rearranged game after the harsh winter meant that the game was called off. Birmingham find themselves in the relegation zone after a defeat at the hands of West Brom last time out a win tonight would see them catapult above local rivals Aston Villa in 13th with a game in hand. Everton on the other hand will be looking to continue a recent upturn in form which has seen them reach the lofty heights of the top half of the league. A win would see Everton 8th and only 3 points behind Liverpool who currently lie in 6th place.
MOYES AIMS FOR TOP 6
‘I am going to try and do it,’ said Moyes. ‘I don’t know if it is realistic or not but we are going to try and make a run for as high up as we can.
‘We want to try and stay away from the bottom end and if we can, get another win or two and then we will make sure we can’t get pulled back into that, but we have work to do
‘
We have got to go and try and continue our relatively good Premier League form,’ he continued.
‘The players have been good at bouncing back and showing that it matters to them and they did that at Newcastle. But we don’t want to be winning one then losing one.
‘What I want the players to do is show how good they are and go on a decent run
Everton Team News:
Everton will be without Phil Neville who limped off during the victory to Newcastle at the weekend with a hamstring strain. Anichebe is fortunately another doubt after suffering a knock. Tim Cahill and Fellaini are also out for this fixture.
Seamus Coleman could fill back in at his natural right back role but it is more likely that Moyes will call on the services of one Tony Hibbert.
POSSIBLE XI: Howard, Hibbert, Distin, Jagielka, Baines, Coleman, Heitinga, Rodwell, Osman, Arteta, Saha
Player to watch: Arteta
The best little Spainard is starting to be getting back to his best. His performance against Newcastle was superb and he was rightly praised after the game. Birmingham will offer a different challenge especially at Goodison so Mikel will have to pull the strings in the midfield if Everton look to get anything from this game.
Birmingham Team News:
Birmingham’s Martin Jiranek should return after recovering from a thigh injury but Craig Gardner and Barry Ferguson remain sidelined.
Nikola Zigic will have a late fitness test on a groin injury but Liam Ridgewell, who has had a similar problem, is expected to be fit
POSSIBLE XI:Foster, Carr, Johnson, Jiranek, Ridgewell, Bowyer, Fahey, Bentley, Larsson, Martins, Zigic
Player to watch: Zigic
Should he play I predict that he will pose a major problem to Everton’s backline this evening. One of Everton’s major defensive flaws this season has been from set plays. This will have to improve if they are to keep this giants feet firmly on the ground.
Match Facts & Stats
There has not been a home win on the last five occasions these teams have met
Everton won 2-0 at St Andrew’s earlier this season and are looking to do their first double over Birmingham since 1986
The Toffees are the only Premier League side yet to be awarded a penalty this season.
Birmingham have not won in the league at Goodison Park since 1957, a run of 25 matches.
Everton have won three of their last four Premier League matches and are looking for a third consecutive league win for the first time this season
Everton have not lost any of the 12 matches in which they have been drawing at half-time
Birmingham are in danger of becoming the second club to win the League Cup and been relegated in the same season: Norwich are currently the only club to do this in 1985.
Ref Watch:
In a week dominated by bad calls from match officials dont expect any droplets of gold to be falling from between the legs of Peter Walton this evening.
Match Prediction:
I will go with a 2-0 Everton victory. The team showed a great deal of spirit against Newcastle and were worthy winners. The truth is no one can predict Everton results any more as we simply dont know which Everton side will turn up. I predict for Beckford and Arteta to light up the scoresheet.