Hey, at least this guy isn't going to torment us today.

Team news and the like from 2:30pm EST.

Team sheets
Everton
Howard; Neville, Heitinga, Distin, Baines; Donovan, Gibson, Fellaini, Pienaar; Cahill; Stracqualursi.

As hinted at in last night's post it felt like a good night to be a blue from the word go.
City always seem to fall foul of Everton's superior workrate and commitment. Players like Aguero, Villa and Nasri have added real class to go along with the brawn but where is the steel that side will need to win a title?

Browsing through the Everton forums finds a lot of uneasy fans worried about thier injury hit side up against us on Wednesday night. Jagielka, Cahill, Osman, Rodwell, Hibbert and Coleman are all doubts, but Fellaini and Drenthe both came through their previous match unscathed and should feature.
They point out that the key to them winning this fixture will be controlling our midfield, a task that is made infinitely easier if Parker and Sandro are both out.

So the Premier League season is finally here, it's Tottenham Hotspur's opening game versus Everton..........

That's how the preview for this one should have started, but the unfortunate and unseemly rioting of early August put paid to Spurs opening fixture. Now this is the game in hand it's vital that Spurs get maximum points if they want to be taken seriously as title challengers.

Happy New Year. Van der Vaart's hamstring. Scott Parker's knee. Rotation. Rest. It's that time of the year... Let's take a look at the upcoming Fantasy Premier League gameweek GW 20: our first "double gameweek" of 2012. I. Liverpool ... Continue reading →

Thomas Vermaelen will play in the left back position

All four centre backs have been deployed against Everton. Thomas Vermaelen at left back, Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny form the central pairing, and Johan Djourou at right.

For Arsenal the danger men are Tim Cahill who loves to lose himself in the thicket of tall defenders rising from nowhere for his headers, Leighton Baines who will fancy himself against a relatively static Djourou to bomb forward, and Louis Saha who still packs in an explosive finish.

de Gea; Jones, Evans, Vidic, Evra; Park, Fletcher, Cleverley; Welbeck, Rooney, Hernandez

Subs: Lindegaard, Ferdinand, Fabio, Nani, Valencia, Owen and Berbatov.

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Baines, Heitinga, Jagielka, Coleman, Bilyaletdinov, Osman, Fellaini, Rodwell and Saha.

"CONFIRMED LINE-UP: Everton vs United" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

We broke the curse. That's all you need to know. Well, not really. Once again I'm taking you on a running diary odyssey of sorts. The madness, after the jump:

No Church in the Wild

Much like the last go around, I woke up on Saturday morning, broke out the laptop, and did my best to track the madness of the match in whatever fashion I could surmise.

By Ref Reviewer 04 The Mersey side derby had Ref Atkinson in charge. Did he had a big influence on the game? Only one way to find out: read further. Min Type Foul from On C/NC Comment points weight 1 OTHER Hibbert Downing C Block 1 1 2 OTHER Kelly Cahill C Push in the [...]

Everton v Liverpool as it happened | Scott Murray

Thoughts turn today to Kenny Dalglish's last involvement in a Merseyside derby at Goodison Park. That was, of course, the famous 4-4 draw in the fifth round of the FA Cup in 1991. Less than 48 hours after the final whistle, Kenny was gone, the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster finally taking its terrible toll.

Everton v Liverpool | Scott Murray

• Email scott.murray@guardian.co.uk with all your thoughts • Press F5 to refresh this page or use our auto-refresher • Click here for all the stats you will ever need • You want the latest scores? Click here Thoughts turn today to Kenny Dalglish's last involvement in a Merseyside derby.