Everton v Wigan preview

Distin debut possible; Martinez to change cup side

Last updated: 30th August 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Everton v Wigan preview

Moyes: Wants first win

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Everton will be desperate for a convincing home victory when they face an out-of-sorts Wigan side at Goodison Park.

The Toffees have started their season with two consecutive defeats and have been seemingly disrupted by the Joleon Lescott transfer saga.

However, two impressive displays in the Europa League have given David Moyes' side a little more encouragement and Lescott's departure may have resettled the dressing room.

Wigan have fared even worse than Everton in recent games, and the hosts will be looking to take advantage of their opponents' recent problems.

After the best possible start against Aston Villa on the opening-day, it has been all downhill for new Latics manager Roberto Martinez.

His side suffered a disappointing loss to Wolves in their first home match of the season, before being hammered 5-0 by Manchester United last Saturday and thumped 4-1 at Blackpool in the Carling Cup.

Martinez was furious with the fringe players he handed an opportunity to on Wednesday and will be calling on the first-team regulars to restore some of the team's pride on Sunday.

Team News

Everton could hand a debut to incoming defender Sylvain Distin, who is due to be confirmed at the club after undergoing a medical on Thursday evening.

If the 31-year-old does make a debut, he will likely play alongside Joseph Yobo in the centre of defence, with captain Phil Neville returning to central midfield.

Nigerian striker Yakubu made his first competitive appearance since November in the Europa League clash with Sigma Olomouc and is likely to be named amongst the substitutes against Wigan.

But fellow new boy Diniyar Bilyaletdinov is still in Russia while the required paperwork is pushed through and will not join up with his team-mates until after the international break.

Steven Pienaar picked up a minor knock in the second-leg against Sigma on Thursday but should be able to return in time for the Wigan clash.

Martinez is set to axe each of the nine squad players he brought into the first-team for the midweek contests with Blackpool.

Only defender Paul Scharner and midfielder Mohamed Diame are thought to have any chance of retaining their place after Wednesday's thrashing.

There are no fresh injury worries for the Spanish manager and his side on Sunday should closely resemble the XI that faced Manchester United.

Possible Starting XIs

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Yobo, Distin, Baines, Osman, Neville, Fellaini, Pienaar, Cahill, Jo

Wigan: Kirkland, Melchiot, Scharner, Bramble, Figueroa, N'Zogbia, Koumas, Diame, Thomas, Gomez, Rodallega

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