Everton v Manchester United

This match is interesting on many levels.  The English media is focusing on the Wayne Rooney circus, but I don't really care about that.  You see, Manchester United play Glasgow Rangers in the Champion's League next week, and I am sure Alex Ferguson would love to rest some players ahead of that match.  But Everton won this match last season, and they always play their best against big clubs.  It's not hard to imagine a scenario where Everton finally get their season started with a win and Manchester United get beat by overlooking an opponent.

Blackburn/Everton Notes

Good win for Rovers. Have to say, I still think they will have trouble scoring enough, but today both young forwards, Nikola Kalinic and Mame Biram Diouf, looked very impressive. Another good performance, perhaps surprisingly, was had by El Hadji Diouf. For some reason, Sam Allardyce is able to get the best out of the enigmatic talent from Senegal. If these three can find some good form and score some goals, Blackburn will have a hell of a season.

As for Everton, not a very good performance from them. Most alarmingly, Mikel Arteta was not able to create anything going forward. The team was also set up tactically in a less than convincing manner. I like David Moyes, and he is one of the better managers in Europe, but he has made one decision that I just don't understand. Marouane Fellaini was a brilliant signing a few years ago, and the youngster has done an outstanding job all over the pitch for Everton, but he has always been at his most effective in an attacking midfield role, pushing up just behind the main striker. So, given this, Moyes played him in a holding midfield role, right in front of the defensive back line. Fellaini didn't play badly, but he failed to influence the game in any substantial way. I think Moyes will have to push him much further up the pitch for Everton to reach their potential.

Europa League Hopefuls (Everton)

Another club with a great manager in David Moyes. It is really amazing what Moyes has built at Everton, similar to Arsene Wenger or Alex Ferguson on a smaller scale. And to be honest, his club has not given him a great deal of support. There has been some money spent, but for me, Everton are a real sleeping giant in England. They may not be capable of Manchester City or Real Madrid level spending, but the squad should certainly be deeper than it is. This lack of depth places a definite ceiling on the club's potential.

The top 14 players at Goodison Park can compete with any team in the world, but winning a Champion's League spot over the 38 game league season is a test of an entire 25 man (plus youngsters) squad. When the inevitable injuries, suspensions, and fixture pile-ups arrive, can Everton cope with the demands? I can't see it. At some point in the season, they will wobble. Last season, it was a slow start. This wobble, which often coincides with an injury to Mikel Arteta (there is no Landon Donovan to replace him this time), will cost them a Champion's League spot, and might keep them out of the Europa League, depending on who wins the domestic cups.

If everyone stays healthy, and I mean every single player in the squad, for the entire season, Everton may even put a scare into the clubs fighting for a top 4 spot. But everything would have to break perfectly for that to happen. I would guess they will finish seventh or eighth.

Gretar Steinsson

He has had a good season for the most part. But the sending off against Everton was just stupid. Even if a forward is on a breakaway, he still has to keep his composure, beat the keeper, and do it before the other defenders get back. Steinsson could have just kept running next to Yakubu and made things difficult before he got a shot off. Instead the Icelandic defender got sent off, and gave Everton a free kick in a great position, which Arteta put in the back of the net.

On the whole Bolton played well, although very defensively, and you could argue they deserved a point based on the first 70 minutes, but once the red card appeared there was only going to be one outcome.

Everton vs. Bolton

A big game for these two clubs. If Everton win, they will probably leapfrog Birmingham and put themselves within striking distance of Aston Villa and a Europa League spot. And if Bolton lose, they could be dragged back into the relegation struggle. On the other hand, if Bolton win, they pass Blackburn and move within striking distance of Fulham and the top half of the table, while also effectively guaranteeing a 10th consecutive season of top flight football at the Reebok Stadium.

Landon Donovan has returned to Los Angeles, and though the Toffees will miss him, he hasn't started the past few matches, and it is the recently fit combination of Mikel Arteta and Yakubu that Bolton need to watch out for.

Unfortunately, Owen Coyle has bit of a dilemma in his selection of a starting back line. Gretar Steinsson and Paul Robinson seem to have established themselves as Coyle's fullbacks of choice, and Zat Knight will certainly play from the start, but who will partner him.

Andy O'Brien played reasonably well in Bolton's 4-0 triumph last weekend, and Coyle seems to prefer keeping a winning side intact. But Sam Ricketts returns from a suspension, and he played well in several games at centre-back before his red card in the disastrous Sunderland match. Let's not forget Gary Cahill, who had been Bolton's best player this season before a blood clot was thought to have ruled him out for the season. Wanderers claim the problem is solved, and the young England hopeful is on contention for a spot in the team at Goodison Park, but I can't imagine he would go straight back into the starting XI after two months of very limited physical activity.

If I am honest, it is hard to see Bolton getting anything out of this match, and we can only hope to keep it close as not to damage our goal differential too much. Maybe, maybe, a draw is a possibility, but I won't hold my breath.

Landon & Ashley

Oh, the irony. When Landon Donavon signed on for a three month loan deal at Everton they were myriad reactions. Some were pessimistic (He's too soft for the Premier League, he's a failure in Europe), some were optimistic (He'll dominate, the US will finally be taken seriously), and some were realistic (Please don't let him get injured, the US is doomed without him).

Well, not only was Landon part of an Everton team that upset Chelsea earlier this week, but his challenge has put Ashley Cole's participation in the 2010 World Cup in doubt. Of course England do have a ready-made replacement in...Wayne Bridge. Oh, this is going to be fun!

Landon Donovan

I was glad that he was going to give the Premier League a try this month, a player of his talent really belongs in a top European league. However, I was concerned that he would find it difficult to get a game, considering the attacking midfielders they have (Felainni, Peinaar, Cahill, Osman, Arteta), and the fact that Donovan will only be there for 10 weeks.

But I was wrong. I have just turned on the Arsenal/Everton match, and not only is he debuting today, but he is in the starting line-up. He appears to be playing on the right wing, which will match him up against the likes of Traore and Denilson.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!

Donovan has just put in a cross that Osman has headed home. What a start!