IT’S a clash of the UEFA Cup qualifiers at Goodison Park, as Blackburn arrive on a high after a solid start.

Everton have beaten them 1-0 in the past two seasons but won’t forget the 4-1 hammering Rovers gave them here in the FA Cup in January.

After winning their first two, David Moyes will be hoping his side gets back on track following defeat at Reading.

Defence

Despite losing at the Madejski, it wasn’t all bad for Everton last week as Ryan Nelsen was sent off against Arsenal which means he is out and he is a big miss.

This was proven last year when he was out injured and the players who come in for him don’t have the same influence.

Andre Ooijer is a likely replacement and he’s not the most mobile, while Zurab Khizanishvili hasn’t played for a while . There’s opportunities there to exploit.

On the right, Brett Emerton is someone who, by nature, is a midfielder and therefore like to roam forward. Players who aren’t natural tend to go up the field too early and this leaves the kind of space in behind that pacy strikers love and central defenders hate.

Look Fernando Torres’s goal against Chelsea. Michael Essien – not a right-back by trade – was caught in an advanced position, and Steven Gerrard used the room behind him to pick out his pass to Torres.

If Everton can expose Samba in the same way Liverpool did with Ben Haim then they can take full advantgae of Emerton in the back four.

Midfield

This will be the key area as both teams tend to set up in the same way, with perhaps a bit more of an attacking edge to the Rovers side.

Robbie Savage will be there to do the donkey work and getting in the faces of the creative players in the same way Lee Carsley does.

For creativity, you’re looking out wide and the main danger for Everton is the impact David Bentley and Morten Gamst Pedersen have.

With Bentley it’s a similar thing to David Beckham, where he doesn’t beat men but can bend the ball round them just like he did when he set up the goal for Roque Santa Cruz at Middlesbrough. So he has to have someone tight to him, pushing him back inside on to his left foot.

The same tactic can’t be applied to Pedersen because even when he comes inside he likes to have a shot with his right foot . Tony Hibbert needs to watch Pedersen closely and the way Stephen Hunt ghosted in to score Reading’s winner last week should make him even more wary. But Hibbert is someone who prefers a good battle against a wide man rather than being on the ball, so keeping Pedersen quiet will be a good challenge.

Also, I’m confident the holding midfielders will do a better job than Arsenal did in stopping David Dunn – he had far too much time to fire in the shot that embarrassed Jens Lehmann last week.

Attack

Matt Derbyshire doesn’t always start but if Benni McCarthy isn’t up to it then the youngster really is in form – his goal against Boro was superb and he scored for England Under-21s in midweek. He is a lively mover and can be dangerous around the edge of the box.

As for Santa Cruz, the goal at Boro suggests he’s more of an English style of forward than a South American one, with that big leap to plant the header into the corner. So an old-fashioned English style of defender in Alan Stubbs could be the man to deal with him. But this danger in the air only presses home the point that Bentley’s supply line needs to be stopped so don’t be surprised if Everton double up on him.

Danger man

Roque Santa Cruz – he is one of those strikers that seems to have a little bit of everything.

Overall verdict

Everton will win it by getting on top in midfield.

Colin Harvey was talking to NICK SMITH