Marouane Fellaini expected to feature against Manchester United

Everton's Marouane Fellaini picked up a knock on hip last weekend during his side's 3-3 draw with Aston Villa. It was concerning enough to where the influential midfielder was forced to miss Belgium's midweek international tie against Slovakia and there was speculation that he could miss this weekend's fixture against Manchester United. It appears, though, that Fellaini will feature at Old Trafford. Here's what Toffees manager David Moyes had to say during his pre-match press conference today:

"He [Fellaini] has got really bad bruising but I think he will be okay. I think we will have roughly the same squad of players as we had for Aston Villa."

- Moyes | Source: Everton official site

During the reverse fixture in August at Goodison Park, the big-haired Belgian absolutely had his way with United as he put in a man-of-the-match performance in a 1-0 Everton win. On that day though, midfielder Michael Carrick was deployed in central-defense due to the injuries of Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling, and Phil Jones. For Sunday's match, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will have a plethora of central-defenders to choose from. Hopefully this helps his side better nullify the aerial threat that Fellaini provides for the Toffees.

If Fellaini does happen to miss the match, Moyes will have two options: either replace the Belgian with another midfielder and his put his side in a 4-5-1 shape or he can go with two strikers -- if the latter were to happen, that would mean a partnership of Victor Anichebe of Nikica Jelavic up front.

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