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ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Everton seek to shock United

‘Nil Satis Nisi
Optimum’ is woven on the crest of the Everton shirt, and it is Latin for
‘Nothing But The Best.’ They will have to give that and much more if
they are to get any result as Manchester United come to town. The
Toffees have started as miserably as they started last season, with one
point from three matches, but will take heart from the 3-1 win over the
Red Devils last season. Another plus for David Moyes and his boys is
that not many in the squad were away on national duty; but almost the
full roster of United players have been junketing around Europe in the
past week. Everton should then be fresher and ready to play a high tempo
game against their United rivals.

One player that will
always give more than the required is club captain, Phil Neville, who
has issued a rallying call to his team mates that they will have to be
at their best as a team to get any result against Alex Ferguson’s side.

Neville knows the
experience of playing United both as a former player and as an opponent.
Speaking on evertontv, he said: “Sometimes you can win a game with
maybe eight players playing well, at their best. But against Man United
you need all 11.” Wayne Rooney will be back to his boyhood club and he
should expect some abuse from the terraces. England team mate Phil
Jagielka concurred and said Rooney must expect it in light of his recent
misdemeanours. “He normally gets quite a bit of stick anyway. I can’t
see that changing on Saturday.” The reaction of the fans may then be
consequent on his performance. The booing of the home fans could trigger
a relapse of the old and reckless Rooney. Nigerians, Yakubu Aiyegbeni
and Victor Anichebe, will be hoping to be part of the Everton squad
after missing out of the first three matches. The match is an early
lunch kickoff.

Nsofor set to debut against Chelsea

It will be top
against bottom as West Ham under former Chelsea manager, Avram Grant,
face a free-scoring Chelsea side that are yet to concede a goal in the
three-week old league. New recruit from Inter Milan, Obinna Nsofor,
should get his chance to strut his stuff on English soil in this London
derby as he makes his debut against the table-toppers. One thing Nsofor
has noted about the English Premier League is the speed at which the
game is played. “English football is very fast and I have to contend
with that challenge,” he said. “It is not a big deal because I can cope
with any pattern in football. Within this short period, I have seen a
lot of difference and I am ready to make an impact here with West Ham.
My colleagues have told me so much about the fans here, and I am so
eager and excited to be part of the fun. I have enough experience to
help me with the new challenge in England and I believe I will be okay.
It is also a league that has many Nigerian players so I am at home.”
Meanwhile Chelsea will be keen to extend the Hammers’ misery with maybe
another goals avalanche. The Blues could be without Captain John Terry
and Frank Lampard.

LA LIGA

Herculean task awaits Hercules at Camp Nou

Barcelona just took
off from where they stopped as they dismembered Racing Santander 3-0,
with David Villa making a scoring debut for the Blaugrana, and hosting
Hercules should not be a herculean task. The 1996/97 season though
witnessed Hercules do the double over their mighty rivals in a 2-1 and
3-2 wins. This current Barcelona side will not be looking back but
forward and the real bet will not be if Hercules will be able to beat
Barca on their own patch but how many goals will be scored by the likes
of Lionel Messi, Villa and the rest of the gang.

Real Madrid face a tougher job against an obdurate Osasuna side, and
Jose Mourinho will have to play without Cristiano Ronaldo. The new
tactician has bemoaned the lack of quality strikers in the team, but
Karim Benzema will be raring to replace Ronaldo. Both Benzema and
Gonzalo Higuain scored for their countries on Tuesday and will want to
get off the mark for their clubs.