Today at 3:00 p.m. ET, Everton and New Castle square off in Barclays Premier League action from Goodison Park in England. The game can be live streamed here.
Gareth Barry is looking to join an elite group when the Everton midfielder appears in his 500th Barclays Premier League contest this afternoon. If Barry appears in the game as expected, it will mark just the 10th time since 1992 that a player has appeared in 500 Premier League games.
Barry, 32, started playing in 1997 and was part of Manchester City's title-winning campaign in 2012 before moving to Everton over the summer. Everton manager Roberto Martinez has praised Barry for reaching the milestone.
''I don't think there are many more significant records than that,'' Martinez said per ESPN ahead of today's game. ''I think it represents his professionalism, the way he looks after himself, the way he sees the game and the experience that he brings into any side.
While Barry awaits his 500th game, Antolin Alcaraz is still looking to make his Everton debut after he joined the team over the summer but hasn't been able to play due to a slew of injuries that include his latest setback, a groin ailment.
''Nothing is more frustrating than injuries,'' Martinez said, according to ESPN. ''As a player you can cope with any sort of disappointment. If you're not in the team, if you're not performing well, there's always that opportunity to go out and train next morning."
Martinez expects Alcaraz to fight his way back to returning despite the frustrations keeping him out of an Everton uniform.
''Antolin is a fighter, he is a leader, he's been through many, many situations," Martinez said via ESPN. "We are excited to see the best of Antolin in the next four weeks and I do feel that now we are going to be able to do it.''
Martinez expects to receive good news on the injury front in the form of a return to action for Arouna Kone and Leon Osman, who were both sidelined during Everton's Capital One Cup loss to Fulham last week.
Newcastle, meanwhile, will hope for a nice turnaround after taking two leads in a game against Hull last weekend while not being able to sustain them and ultimately dropping the contest 3-2.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew knows that even without key player Marouane Fellaini, who left for Manchester United with ex-coach David Moyes, Martinez still has a solid squad in his first season at the helm.
''Yes," Pardew told ESPN about whether or not he believed Martinez had big shoes to fill. "But they have signed some good players and you would have to say that they have got what looks like a stronger squad than David had last year."
Pardew feels confident in his big guns Yohan Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa and Loic Remy will be able to take down an Everton team that hasn't lost in league play yet this season.
Everton looks to continue its unbeaten streak in league play this season while New Castle United hopes to hand the team its first league loss when these two teams clash this afternoon in Barry's 500th Premier League game.
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