High stakes for Everton against United
Two teams from opposite ends of the table meet when Everton host Manchester United in the Premier League for Saturday's early kick-off.
United are third behind Chelsea and Arsenal on seven points, having won their two home games and drawn with Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Meanwhile, Everton have made a disappointing start to the season, with their only point coming in a home draw against Wolverhampton in August.
Playmaker and stand-in captain Mikel Arteta told the BBC that Everton must collect three points in the game.
"It's a must-win for us now," he said. "We can't drop points at home and we know how important it is to get some consistency at Goodison Park."
Rooney set to start
Former Everton boy Wayne Rooney will get lots of attention on Saturday. While he has grown used to being taunted by the Everton fans as a United player, the recent allegations surrounding his private life may add insult to injury.
Despite the rampant speculation, Rooney is likely to start against his hometown club, as he did for England in Basle on Tuesday.
United's reserves boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed that Rio Ferdinand will be available against Everton, having played for United's reserve team last week.
His exclusion from the reserves team that faced Stockport County on Thursday suggests he will feature on Saturday.
Injured pair Wes Brown and Anderson were selected for the reserves, however, meaning neither is likely to be present on Saturday.
Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov started Manchester United's last league game against West Ham, and will be looking to add to his two league goals this season. He and Rooney will rely on Nani and Ryan Giggs for accurate deliveries into the box.
Everton's Louis Saha will miss the game after suffering a knee injury during France's defeat to Bulgaria in Paris last Friday.
The striker came on after 70 minutes, only to be substituted again ten minutes later. With Saha absent, Jermaine Beckford could get the nod in attack, as he did in the defeat to Aston Villa.
Moyes will also be without Jack Rodwell, who suffered an ankle injury against Aston Villa, while team captain Phil Neville, a former United player with 386 appearances for Ferguson's team, returns to the squad.
United with the stronger record
The two teams face each other for the 184th time. United have 79 wins versus Everton's 64, while 40 of the encounters have ended in a draw.
In the same fixture last season, Everton beat United for the first time in ten meetings as Landon Donovan led the club to a resounding 3–1 victory.
Donovan has since left the team, but Everton will hope that Marouane Fellaini and Arteta can provide the attacking creativity from midfield this time around.
The team has created plenty of chances this season, but only managed to score one goal in the league. Despite the drought, Everton have a strong home record, having suffered their last defeat against Liverpool last November.
Meanwhile, United are on a roll away from home in the league and haven't lost since that trip to Everton in February. It should be a closely contested game.
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