The big day

THE big day has arrived - the first of two games which could have a huge bearing on who finishes in the fourth Champions League place.
Last season if you'd said City and Everton would have been battling to break the supremacy of the Big Four you'd have been laughed out of the Colin Bell Stand. Well, Everton maybe, but certainly not a City team who couldn't score a goal at home for nearly five months.
But today's game at Goodison will be the most crucial test so far of City's desire to prove we're finally back among the big clubs - and in six weeks' time the return game at Eastlands could have even more riding on it.
Captain Dunney Monster reckons we're good enough to beat Liverpool to a Champions League place, so let's look at the evidence: so far we've beaten Stretford Red Sox, narrowly lost at Arsenal in a game we deserved to win, and held Rafa Benitez's rapidly imploding Reds to a goalless draw. Oh, and er, got hammered 6-0 at Chelsea.
Our new-found capability of coping with the big sides (Stamford Bridge aside) - together with our awesome home record - is why we're in still fourth place.
But Everton are fast on our heels and despite their recent cup defeats are the form team of the league at the moment.
They've only lost three times at Goodison this season - to Manure Knighted, Liverpool and Arsenal, which shows what it takes to overcome David Moyes' side these days.
Luckily the African Cup of Nations means Everton will be without Ayegbeni Yakubu, the man who's replaced likely starter Andrew Johnson as their goal machine this season, as well as Steven Pienaar and Jospeh Yobo.
But Micah Richards and Dunney will still have their work cut out trying to keep Tim Cahill and Victor Anichebe quiet, while Nedum Onuoha and Michael Ball will have to keep a tight rein on Mikel Arteta and Leon Osman.
Hopefully Gelson Fernandes will get a chance to continue to impress. He's looked solid whenever he's played, and he and Didi Hamann will be needed to stem the flow of creativity from Everton's talented midfield.
Good news is Elano's back, and hopefully he can show the sort of form Sven-Goran Eriksson promised us a couple of weeks ago he was close to recapturing. With Darius Vassell as a lone striker, Blumer's going to have to be on the ball if we're going to pose any threat.
On another note, my mate's been saying for weeks we need Nic Anelka up front, but I for one was pleased he signed for Chelsea yesterday.
When the Incredible Sulk was at Eastlands he was no good for team spirit and spent most of his time on the pitch giving his team-mates evils for not being on the same wavelength. Maybe that would be different if he was playing with Elano, Martin Petrov and Michael Johnson rather than Chris Musampa and Trevor Sinclair, but I'm sure Sven's shrewd enough to bring in another striker who can do just as good a job with less of the baggage.
Here's my team for today: Hart, Onuoha, Richards, Dunne, Ball, Corluka, Hamann, Gelson, Ireland, Elano, Vassell.