3. No Gareth Barry
The Everton team that has won so many early plaudits this year is not overly different to the team Moyes had at his disposal last year, before his ill-fated move to Man Utd. The main exceptions to this come in the form of Lukaku and Gareth Barry, supplied by Chelsea and Man City respectively. It must be said that Everton did not look quite the same up front with the Chelsea loanee missing from their team sheet and the same will undoubtedly be said of Mr Barry. He was one of the main reasons that Everton kept Chelsea at bay, going about his job quietly in front of the defence and breaking down the Chelsea link-up play. He was also instrumental in keeping possession in the dying minutes of the match when Chelsea were trying so desperately for an equaliser. His performance in that match was
heralded by Martinez as a 'master class' for young midfielders to look at if they wanted to see the 'right' way of playing the role of DM. Time and again he intercepted passes from the Blues midfield and managed to deliver block after block, being able to stop Eto'o from scoring a sure goal with the goalie off his line. Everton will not be able to rely on him against the power and strength of the City midfield and I can see Yaya Toure being given the run of the park. If this is the case then City will be put firmly in the driving seat and bar a minor miracle, will surely see Everton succumb to their first League defeat this season.