Everton v Birmingham; who will blink first?
This fourth-round FA Cup clash sees an irresistable force meet an immovable object and something has to give! Everton are undefeated in six games – nine if you exclude the Bate Borisov defeat where we fielded a weakened team, while our visitors are undefeated in fourteen. A lot has happened since our one-all draw against Birmingham at Goodison five weeks ago when Bilyaletdinov‘s sixth minute strike, countered by Larsson’s out of the blue equalizer, was all we had to show from a game we dominated from start to finish. Our form has been on an upward trajectory ever since, with a point at Sunderland and then at the Emirates and three back-to-back league and cup home wins culminating in last Saturday’s superb victory over City, while for Birmingham the highlights have been home draws against Chelsea and Man United. A 1-0 home win in the FA Cup 3rd round replay against Forest, a week ago Wednesday, was their last competitive game, thanks to the postponement of the match at Pompey last weekend and since then Alex McCleish has taken the opportunity to fly his squad to Malta for some warm weather training.
If confidence is the most precious commodity in sport then momentum must run it a close second; at present Everton have both. The return of Phil Neville from injury is, in our view, one of the key reasons, another must be the emergence of Fellaini as our midfield box-to-box enforcer in the Vieira mould, while the arrival of Landon Donovan has added width, speed and offensive threat. These three individuals are highlighted, but it is noticeable that the form of every member of the squad has improved as confidence has climbed. Younsters Jack Rodwell and Dan Gosling returned to full training this week. Tony Hibbert is out for a month but Leon Osman has recovered from his pulled hamstring while Mikel Arteta, Phil Jagielka and Victor Anichebe are progressing well but not yet match fit. We suspect David Moyes will name the same line-up that beat City, but with Osman back to strengthen the bench.
Alex McLeish has no new injury worries and will be itching to integrate his latest signing, 24 year old Spanish midfielder Michel, into the team. Birmingham’s long unbeaten run has been built on fielding a virtually unchanged team and playing a settled, uncomplicated 4-4-2 formation. How to accommodate Michel? – drop a striker and go 4-5-1, or drop one of the midfielders – Ferguson, Bowyer, Larsson or James McFadden?
EVERTON Dixies60 XI (4-4-1-1): Howard; Neville, Heitinga, Distin, Baines; Fellaini, Donovan, Pienaar, Bilyaletdinov; Cahill; Saha
Subs from: Nash, Coleman, Vaughan, Duffy, Osman, Baxter, Forshaw, Agard
BIRMINGHAM CITY possible XI (4-4-2): Hart; Carr, R Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell; Larsson, Ferguson, Bowyer, Michel; Benitez, Jerome
Subs from: Maik Taylor, McFadden, Fahey, D Johnson, Phillips, Martin Taylor, McSheffrey, Queudrue
Referee: Howard Webb Kick off: 1500
