John Heitinga is again expected to deputise for Phil Jagielka (ankle) at the heart of the defence.
Manchester City will again be with injured striker Sergio Aguero (knee) and captain Vincent Kompany, who will sit out his eighth successive match with an ongoing calf problem.
Jack Rodwell misses out against his former club with a hamstring injury.
David Moyes may have celebrated 11 years as Everton manager on Thursday but I'm sure the anniversary passed without much fanfare after a tough seven days.
Their capitulation to Wigan in the FA Cup quarter-finals last weekend was a real surprise. Many Evertonians, neutrals and plain old football romantics believed the Cup could provide a long-overdue trophy for Moyes and the club before he potentially walks off into the sunset at the end of his contract.
Instead, Everton's supporters have been left wondering what the future holds. Despite their encouraging start to the season, Everton have fallen well off the pace for Champions League qualification, and to confound matters Liverpool moved above them in the Premier League table for the first time this campaign last Sunday. It's a worrying time for the blue half of Merseyside.
"Everton had a disastrous result in the FA Cup against Wigan last week. Take nothing away from the Latics, who deserved their 3-0 win, but I think the crowd at Goodison Park were absolutely stunned by what happened. I get the impression that the manager, coaching staff and players were too.
"At the moment, it looks like the Toffees' season has lasted two months too long because they have run out of steam in some key positions and have not been able to freshen things up."
The Toffees may be glum but I'm sure Roberto Mancini's message to his Manchester City squad will be 'beware the wounded animal'. Mancini's City have never taken so much as a point off Everton on three previous trips to Goodison during the Italian's reign. In fact it's a miserly four points from a possible 21 for Mancini in his tussles against Moyes.Last season, after City's 1-0 defeat away to the Toffees, Mancini shocked me in his post-match press conference when he candidly admitted to errors: "It's all my fault, I didn't prepare the team for this game properly" - effectively admitting that he underestimated Everton. I would envisage the City boss will have left no stone unturned on the training ground this time around.
Unlike the Toffees, City comfortably negotiated their way into the FA Cup semi-finals and have shown decent league form since regrouping after their own shock defeat by Southampton.
If City are to prolong any hopes of retaining their league title it's games like this they must win, especially when they kick-off before Manchester United and can apply some pressure.
Moyes, on the other hand, will simply be desperate to inspire his Everton side to more heroics against the champions and restore some bruised pride. Only then might he finally be able to consign one of the most difficult weeks of his Goodison Park tenure to the history books.
Head-to-head
Manchester City's only win in their last seven Premier League games against Everton came in September 2011, when Mario Balotelli and James Milner scored in a 2-0 home victory. Everton have won each of their last three home matches against City. It's 92 years since they last won four successive home matches in this fixture. The two clubs met on this date in the top-flight 101 years ago; City won 4-0 at their then-Hyde Road ground.Everton
Everton's FA Cup defeat by Wigan last weekend was only their second home defeat in 17 matches in all competitions this season. Their other defeat came against Chelsea in December. The Toffees have only failed to score in four of their 28 league games this campaign; however, three of those have come in the last seven matches. David Moyes's side have conceded more headed goals (14) in the Premier League this season than any other club. Everton have drawn 12 of their league games, a joint-league high with Stoke and Norwich. If selected, Leon Osman will be making his 300th start in all competitions for Everton, while Nikica Jelavic will be appearing in his 50th match for the Toffees. He has scored 18 goals for the club.Manchester City
Victory would provide Manchester City with their 1,800th win in league football. Manchester City have won their last two Premier League matches and kept clean sheets in them both. They have shut out the opposition in six of their last eight league matches, and kept a league-high 13 clean sheets in 28 games this season. Roberto Mancini's side have only dropped four points from winning positions this season, winning 14 games and drawing two. It's the equal-best record in the Premier League alongside Manchester United and Arsenal. City's only defeat in 13 meetings against top-half opposition came in December's Manchester derby against United (W7, D5, L1).
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