Moyes: Nothing to lose

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David Moyes reckons Everton have "nothing to lose" when champions Manchester United visit Goodison Park on Saturday.

The Toffees have gone seven games without a win but Moyes sees no reason why they should face United with the fear-factor.

"It is a game we are looking forward to," he said. "I think there will be more pressure on them to win the game.

"Obviously we need the points to move away from the wrong end of the table but we are in a situation where we have nothing to lose really.

"I think most people would expect Manchester United to win so we have to go out and try to make a real game of it.

Weaknesses

"All we can do is prepare our players and prepare them to stop Manchester United, which is the first thing you have to do. Then after that we will have to try to exploit some weaknesses.

"Let's hope then that it is our day because you need a little bit of that when you are playing them.

"We have struggled recently trying to beat the top four but I think they would say that coming to try to beat Everton has been a struggle for them as well.

"I don't think that in the past they see Everton as an easy game and hopefully they don't now."

Everton head into the game in 16th place and have taken just one point from 12 at Goodison so far this season.

And despite going down to a 3-1 defeat at Arsenal last week, Moyes feels his side has taken confidence from the fact they led until the 48th minute through Leon Osman's early strike.

"I thought the players did really well, especially in the first half," he said.

"You have to remember how good a team Arsenal are and unfortunately we lost the goal after half-time but there were some positives.

"We passed the ball well and they were brave enough to take it and try to do something with it so there were some good things.

Optimism

"I feel brighter, the players feel brighter. We are more positive than we were because we are starting to see things come back together.

"We showed signs of playing better in periods of games. We have to keep our heads down, keep believing and keep hoping that results will turn."

Wayne Rooney returns to his former club needing one more strike to reach 100 career goals.

"I think everyone knows how good Wayne is, that's unquestionable and his best years are still to come," added Moyes, who had a libel battle with Rooney last year over comments he made regarding the Scot's managerial style.

"He is in good form just now and everybody knows his ability and talent. There is no doubt he is a very good footballer."