prem preview: everton - blackburn rovers
 
what: english premier league
who: everton (4th, 6/9pts) v blackburn rovers (8th, 4/6pts)
when: saturday, 25th august, 2007, kick-off 17:15 local (bst)
where: goodison park, liverpool

talk about even…

northwest rivals everton and blackburn hold a very even head to head record against one another, both winning 11 games each and participating in 4 draws. when the teams last met at goodison park, the toffees won by a single goal to nil thanks to andy johnson, on his 26th birthday. however, only a month before that, blackburn beat everton in the fa cup third round with an emphatic 4-1 away win. with the exception of paul gallagher, all the rovers players who scored that day should make the team, so it will be interesting to see whether there will be a similar result this time around.

table toppers

if results go their way, everton do have a chance of going top of the table once again on saturday and going by their home form, they are set to achieve this. they have won 5 of their last 6 games at goodison park.

we won’t be beaten!

blackburn have enjoyed a good start to the season and head into this game unbeaten so far this campaign. in fact, blackburn haven’t lost away from home for 8 games, which should slightly worry everton. if blackburn do manage to gain all three points from this fixture, they would have a total of seven points from a possible nine and that would be their best start to a season since ’97.

i used to be a rover…

a fact that is long forgotten is that lee carsley (33 years old) used to be a blackburn player between 1999 and 2000. he enjoyed a successful spell scoring  12 goals giving him a strike rate of a goal per 4.5 games. carsley should be looking forward to playing his former club.

alan stubbs reaches milestone

if he starts, this will be alan stubbs 200th premiership game. the solid centre back has also played for bolton and sunderland

birthday badboy

if the god of football is smiling upon him, tugay could celebrate his 37th birthday with a goal (or more likely an appearance!). the feisty turkish midfielder turns 37 on friday, only a day before the game.

form guide
 
everton
aug 18 v reading (h) lost 0-1 (prem)
aug 14 v tottenham (a) won 3-1 (prem)
aug 11 v wigan (h) won 2-1 (prem)

blackburn rovers
aug 19 v arsenal (h) draw 1-1 (prem)
aug 16 v mypa (a) won 1-0 (uefa cup q)
aug 11 v middlesbrough (a) won 2-1 (prem)
jul 28 v fk vetra (h) won 4-0 (intertoto cup)
jul 22 v fk vetra (a) won 2-0 (intertoto cup)

team news

everton

everton will be without key players for the game against blackburn. joseph yobo is out with a groin injury and tim cahill should be back by the beginning of august. david moyes won’t be concerned about his midfield though, with many more injuries in the striking department. andrew johnson, who missed englands friendly against germany, won’t play with a knee injury. youngster michael vaughan has been ruled out with a shoulder injury and unless victor anichebe is able to shake off an ankle injury, everton won’t have any fit strikers to take part. with the imminent arrival of yakubu though, the toffees could well have him playing up front, but the deal would have to take place very quickly in order for there to be any possibility of this happening.

last starting xi (v reading): howard, hibbert (mcfadden), lescott, stubbs, nuno valente, osman (jagielka), carsley, neville, arteta, anichebe (pienaar), johnson. subs not used: ruddy, baines

squad: howard, hibbert, lescott, stubbs, nuno valente, baines, ruddy, osman, jagielka, carsley, neville, arteta, mcfadden, pienaar,

blackburn rovers

blackburn nearly have a full strength squad to choose from with the exception of steven reid (hamstring) and stephane henchoz (leg) missing out as well as minors sergio peter (leg) and bruno berner (foot). unlike everton though, they have a  four fully fit strikers to choose from. knowing this, mark hughes may decide to loosen up at the back. skipper, ryan nelsen, will also miss out with a ban after getting sent off in the home draw against arsenal. rovers are likely to recall benni mccarthy in the starting line up at the expense of youngster matt derbyshire.

last starting xi (v arsenal): friedel, emerton, samba, nelsen, warnock, bentley, savage, dunn, pedersen, santa cruz (mccarthy), derbyshire (ooijer). subs not used: brown, kerimoglu, roberts

squad: friedel, brown, enckelman, ooijer, samba, warnock, khizanishvili, emerton, mokoena, tugay, dunn, bentley, savage, pedersen, santa cruz, rigters, roberts, derbyshire, mccarthy, gallagher, olsson.

players to watch

david bentley has been excellent for blackburn so far this season. the winger was left out of the england squad for the friendly against germany, after pulling out of the u-21 team earlier this summer. however, his consistent performances at ewood park are sure to earn him a call up in the future. bentley is very influential on the wing and provides top notch crosses for the strikers to lash home. he is also good for passing the ball around the field. so long as bentley receives enough of the ball, he will be a major threat to the everton defence.

mikel arteta is currently one of everton’s best players this season. being part of the ‘creative midfield’ is no easy job, but arteta, makes light work of it. he has two assists to his name and has won more free kicks than any other player in the league this season. he gets a staggering amount of deliveries into the box and is the vital playmaker in the toffees team. so long as this form continues, arteta will be very useful for everton this campaign and this game.

prediction 

both mark hughes and david moyes will be looking to get three points from this game, but both will know what a tough task lies ahead for them. rovers will try and keep their unbeaten run so far this season going whereas everton have to show that they can bounce back from defeat, after losing to reading last week.both teams play different styles of football, but have very strong defences. blackburn tend to play with a couple of holding midfielders, which will be vital for this game, against a very creative and playmaking everton midfield. however, the main problem in this game lies with everton, who won’t have quite the selection of strikers that they need, going into such a tough game.

everton 1 blackburn 2