Cal
Player Valuation: £40m
Everton v Wigan – Goodison Park – 3pm KO
Everton go into the first game of the season in the Premiership against Wigan without 3 key players.
Tim Cahill, James Vaughan and Leighton Baines are all out of the game due to injury, the Cahill and Vaughan injuries will prove a big blow to Everton as they are were both key players in Everton’s successful campaign last season.
Although Baines, who signed in a 6 million pound deal this week, is out with minor hamstring problem, there is still good news for fans, which should get to see the other 2 new signings, Stephen Pienaar and Phil Jagielka.
Although both players are not expected to start, both are expected to be brought off the bench to finally taste their first competitive match at Goodison Park for Everton.
Although Moyes hasn’t brought in the amount of players that the fans will want so far, there is a anticipation of the new season around Goodison, after a eventful pre season, where the main talking point was the stadium move to Kirkby, Evertonian’s will be looking forward to replicating last seasons success.
Everyone at the club will want the Toffee’s to get a good start under their belts especially with tricky outings to Spurs and Reading in the next week, Phil Neville has underlined what it will mean to get a good start for the club, “I thought our start last year - the away win at Tottenham and the home win against Liverpool - set the tone for the rest of the season and it starts again tomorrow. I can’t believe how quickly it has come around but I can’t wait to get going.”
Everton squad to face Wigan: Howard, Ruddy, Hibbert, Neville, Lescott, Yobo, Stubbs, Valente, Jagielka, Arteta, Osman, van der Meyde, Pienaar, de Silva, Carsley, Johnson, Anichebe, McFadden, Jutkiewicz, Vidarsson.
Ref Watch: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)
Members Predictions:
FCConnecticut: Everton 3-0 Wigan
Chicoazul: Everton 3-1 Wigan
Cal: Everton 3-0 Wigan
Davidsr: Everton 3-0 Wigan
DomEFC17: Everton 2-0 Wigan