The way things are going for Everton at the minute, they couldn't lose even if they wanted to.

David Moyes elected to pick a second-string team for the apparently meaningless final fixture against AZ Alkmaar yet still finished the game 3-2 winners. The Dutch side needed a win to progress to the next stage of the UEFA Cup but still Everton's makeshift mixture of players struggling for fitness, and youngsters, were more than comfortable on the evening.

Growing in confidence and maturity with each passing game, Moyes is finally building a side that can compete and end the club's 12-year barren spell without a trophy. Thirteen games without defeat in all competitions makes Everton the league's form side, but they will face their toughest test in this run this weekend when they travel to face Manchester United.

'Rio Ferdinand, the architect of United's infamous £4000-a-head bash, will bear the brunt of the anger of fans if United are not playing well'


Moyes clearly had one eye on the fixture already with the important quintet of Tim Howard, Joseph Yobo, Tim Cahill, Mikel Arteta and Yakubu left at home for the final UEFA Cup match. That Everton had the luxury of leaving players of their calibre behind speaks volumes not only about the impressive squad that is being built but also the emergence of young players that could go on to progress the team further. Everton finished the game in Alkmaar with three 19-year-olds and 16-year-old débutant Jack Rodwell - boding well for a squad that already has an average age of 25.

Turning attention to the fixture at Old Trafford, is it possible that Everton can take something from this game and continue their run? After suffering with injuries in the opening months, United can now name something resembling their first-choice team and as a result find themselves in a similar vein of form to the Toffees. They remain just one point off the top of the league and are growing in momentum as evidenced by their workmanlike but deserved 1-0 victory over Liverpool at Anfield.

However, as shown by Bolton's win against them last month, they are not unbeatable and there was little between Everton and United in the competitive fixture at Goodison in September. Since then, Everton have found their verve and will go into this game confident and eager to cancel out the Nemanja Vidic inflicted defeat at the start of the season.

The fallout from United's much reported Christmas party could be the undoing of them, with the home crowd likely to get on the back of their team if things do not start well. Jonny Evans will not be involved in the fixture but the likes of Rio Ferdinand, the architect of United's infamous £4,000-a-head bash, will bear the brunt of the anger of fans if United are not playing well.

Finally, the presence of Yakubu in the Everton team means that the Toffees finally have a striker in the side who can produce goals from half chances. United will not give anything away in their own half so it is important Moyes does not overlook the in-form Nigerian, with Andy Johnson and James Vaughan now returning to form and fitness.

The last time Everton won away against Manchester United was in 1992 when Peter Beardsley, Mo Johnston and Robert Warzycha scored in a 3-0 victory. Despite this early setback (the first game at Old Trafford in the new 'Premiership', no less), United went on to win their first league title in 26 years later that season and then dominate domestic football for a decade.

Just down the M62, Everton flirted twice with relegation, went through seven managers and won a solitary FA Cup (against Manchester United, funnily enough). After sharing a healthy rivalry throughout the 80s, only now are Everton beginning to get back to challenging against the elite for who United continue to set the standard. Evertonians will hope that a positive result on Sunday will not be another false dawn and that Moyes' brave new team are the real deal.