Everton is coping just fine without Wayne Rooney, marquee players or a big payroll.
The Toffees faced their biggest test of the season so far against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
PHOTO: AP
Everton has a 7-2-2 record and is only three points off the lead of Arsenal and Chelsea.
"Second versus third has a very nice ring to it," Everton manager David Moyes said.
"They have a fantastic squad at their disposal and we all know that. We've played against a lot of good sides this season and done well. It's a big test for us and one we're looking forward to see how far we've come."
Last season Everton finished one place above the relegation zone despite having Rooney in the lineup.
After Rooney's goal-sciring exploits for England at Euro 2004, offers flooded in for the teenage star. The financially-struggling Everton sold him to Manchester United in the offseason for ?30 million (US$55.30 million).
It hasn't bought anyone since.
Chelsea, meanwhile, has spent close to ?200 million (US$369 million) on new players since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took over in July 2003. Moyes has spent ?15.4 million (US$28 million) in 20 months at Everton.
"We do not have a big check book -- we can't do what Chelsea have done," Moyes said Friday. "But we are more than just being about spirit and effort and if we can make a good fist at bucking the trend maybe it will give encouragement to a few other clubs like us.
"The two sides go on the pitch together as equals, we have earned that."
Despite two losses at home, Everton is the only English club yet to lose away in league play. Rooney is long forgotten.
"He doesn't play for this club any more and he's somewhere else and we are getting on with our lives," Moyes said.
Everton is facing a Chelsea brimming with confidence. Jose Mourinho's side won 1-0 at CSKA Moscow on Tuesday, becoming the first club to reach the second round of the Champions League.
Chelsea's 4-1 win over West Bromwich Albion last Saturday -- combined with Arsenal's 2-2 draw with Southampton -- put the Blues level on points with the Gunners. Chelsea has closed Arsenal's five-point lead in the past two weeks.
Chelsea can take over first place Saturday if Arsenal fails to win at Crystal Palace.
The Gunners are in a rare slump, with only one victory in the last five games. The latest slip was a 1-1 draw with Panathinaikos on Tuesday at Highbury in the Champions League. Under Mourinho, Chelsea has given up only three goals in the league and one in the Champions League.
"Before every game, he gives us power," Chelsea defender William Gallas said. "He is a very strict manager but outside he is a nice person."
Alex Ferguson today marks the 18th anniversary of his time in charge of Manchester United.
But it won't be easy -- the opponent is crosstown rival Manchester City. And United will be without the suspended Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored all four goals in the 4-1 Champions League victory over Sparta Prague on Wednesday.
The last time the two met, City beat United 4-1. This time, they're at Old Trafford where Man City hasn't won since 1974.
Last weekend, United lost 2-0 at Portsmouth. It was a stunning letdown after the morale-boosting 2-0 win over Arsenal the week before that ended the Gunners' 49-match unbeaten streak. The Red Devils now trail nine points behind Arsenal and Chelsea.
Ferguson has called Roy Keane the finest player he's managed at Old Trafford.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB