Everton v Benfica:EVERTON MANAGER David Moyes is determined his side will restore their battered reputation in Europe this evening. Benfica arrive at Goodison Park after inflicting a 5-0 defeat on the English club in Lisbon, their heaviest loss in continental competition.
However, Everton remain among the favourites to progress from Group I and their unbeaten home run at this level stretches to nine games. Moyes said: “We do not use the word revenge but pride is at stake. We are hurting from the Benfica game. Hopefully we can do something about it. We want to progress in the group, that is the important thing. It is great we are talking about expectations in Europe because that has not been the case for a long time.
“We are going to have a go and get a result. A point would not be a bad thing the way the group is going. The key is to qualify, and we could find ourselves closer to that target tomorrow.”
Moyes will again be down on numbers as John Heitinga and Lucas Neill are ineligible. Louis Saha (calf) and Tony Hibbert (flu) are doubtful but Steven Pienaar could be on the bench after a knee problem. Midfielder Mikel Arteta has suffered a minor setback in his recovery from injury. The 27-year-old, who ruptured a cruciate knee ligament injury in February, has had a procedure to remove an infection from the same knee and is now recovering.
Despite their rout of Everton two weeks ago, Benfica are without a victory in seven European matches on the road.
