North-West clash has Chinese flavour

The eyes of billions on the other side of the world will be on Maine Road when two Chinese legends clash in the Barclaycard Premiership for the first time.

To the home market it’s a tasty showdown between two old northern rivals Manchester City and Everton.

To a third of the Chinese population who will be watching the match - especially beamed to them on TV – it is the greatest day in their country’s soccer history.

For Manchester City there will be defender Sun Jihai. For Everton, it’s midfielder Li Tie. Both played in the World Cup finals, and now both become the first Chinese players to face each other in the English top flight.

For City and Everton, the Chinese experience is just a sideshow, with Everton unbeaten against a side whose return to the top flight has seen two defeats in three games.

For Everton coach Alan Irvine, it represents the chance to witness a piece of Chinese soccer history while he tries to engineer another solid away performance by the revitalised Merseysiders.

He said: “It is fantastic for the China national team to have two players doing so well in the Premier League.

“We saw these two were fine in the World Cup, and the few players who have come to Europe from China have shown they are capable of playing at this level.

“It is great for Chinese football and you would hope that it would help them produce even even better players.

“I believe it’s going to be on TV back in China, so there will be a fair few watching, I’m sure.”

Li Tie has just arrived in the UK and made a big impact already at Goodison Park. Jihai first played for Crystal Palace in 1998.

Irvine said of the pair: “It is difficult to come here and adapt, especially when you are playing at the back like Sun Jihai.

“That’s why Li Tie has done well and got his chance a little earlier than Li Weifeng, our other Chinese signing. You can get away with a few things in midfield you cannot get get away with at the back because mistakes are more costly there.”

He added: “We have more work to do to help Li Weifeng to adapt. Li Tie has people behind him on the pitch to give him help.

“That’s why there’s been a difference. Sun Jihai, being a defender will have anything he does wrong highlighted.

“But in a better team and with good players around him, he will start to do very well.”

Everton take their unbeaten Premiership record to Maine Road expecting Richard Wright to have recovered from the arm injury that ruled him out of the midweek home draw with Birmingham.

Wright is back in training and if there is no reaction, he will reclaim his number one spot from Steve Simonsen.

But Mark Pembridge has not fully recovered from a stomach upset which also cost him his place in midweek, and he will not be risked.

Boss David Moyes must also decide whether to use the policy which yielded a 1-0 win at Sunderland last weekend, when he opted to leave teenage striker Wayne Rooney on the substitutes’ bench and play a more cautious 4-4-2 formation for an away match, with Niclas Alexandersson in midfield.

Nigerian Joseph Yobo has aggravated his ankle injury in training and is unlikely to be considered. He may even be withdrawn from next week’s internationals.