Manchester United vs Everton Preview
 |
| Image from ACL Sport |
After an unlucky last minute equaliser from Ross Barkley and a stale performance against Juventus in the Champion’s League, Manchester United will now host Everton. They are aiming to get back to winning ways, tracking back to the 3-2 win against Newcastle. Everton pulled off their own dramatic win as Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Cenk Tosun proved the difference against Crystal Palace on Sunday. Everton have won three league games on the bounce with victories against Fulham, Leicester and Crystal Palace and will aim to snatch something from United, who have such a poor record at home this season.
As for team news; Jose Mourinho did not seem happy about the treatment of some of his players by their international managers. He claimed that Sanchez, Fellaini, Dalot and McTominay, who all suffered injuries whilst playing for their respected national sides, should have been taken home or left in Manchester so that United could manage their injuries and see how long they would be out for, much like how Gareth Southgate dealt with Luke Shaw’s injury. Jose also talked about Alexis Sanchez’s poor form, to which he blamed the injuries that the Chilean has suffered, one after the Leicester game and another playing for Chile in the most recent international break, in turn confirming that Sanchez will not be fit for the Everton game. Jesse Lingard is also unfit to feature but is nearing his return and could feature against Bournemouth on the 3rd. As for Everton, Phil Jagielka and James McCarthy are both back in training, but it is unlikely that they will start this game as both were suffering from long-term injuries.
 |
| Image from 101 Great Goals |
Jose also came out and said that Lukaku would still play against his former club despite his goal drought of eight games and his drop in confidence. Some Manchester United fans have been calling for Lukaku to be benched and even replaced by Argentine striker, Mauro Icardi. To these fans, I would like to remind them of how they complained of Rashford’s lack of composure in front of goal and begged for Lukaku to start the FA Cup final last season. Lukaku had a similar drought last season and he bounced back and scored 27 goals in all competitions. He has all the attributes to be a truly complete striker but he was starved of service at times against Juventus, with Mata forced to drop deeper and counter-attacks starting slowly and broken apart with ease.
This could be an easy game if United do what needs to be done. Press Everton in parts of the pitch where it is worth pressing and counter with fast passing and slick play. They have the ability to do so but doing it is another issue. Mata and Pogba will be pivotal in this and need to play the ball wide to Rashford and Martial who can cause a lot of trouble to Digne and Coleman respectively. Everton’s defenders aren’t as good as the stats imply and if United turn on the heat this could be a four goal haul.
Predicted Lineup: De Gea, Young (c), Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw, Matic, Pogba, Mata, Rashford, Martial, Lukaku
PREDICTED SCORE: 3-0 to United
