Relegation-threatened Everton will continue their quest for Premier League survival when they welcome Manchester United to Goodison Park this Saturday for another crunch Premier League match.
Venue: Goodison Park (Liverpool)
Key Statistics
Everton have lost six of their last seven Premier League games (one win).
The hosts have conceded the fifth-most goals in the division (52) this season.
They have kept just one clean sheet in their last nine PL games.
Only one side has scored fewer than Everton’s five first-half home league goals this season.
Richarlison scored twice from the penalty spot on Wednesday night, and he’s Everton’s top home PL scorer (three goals), despite no Goodison Park goal since December.
Manchester United have lost just one of their last 11 PL games, winning five times and drawing five times.
The Red Devils have kept just two clean sheets in their last ten games in all competitions.
Man United’s Bruno Fernandes has four goal contributions (G3, A1) across his last two PL away games against Everton.
Head to head
United also boasts 37 PL wins against them – they’ve beaten only Spurs in the competition more often. Everton have just one win and 13 draws in 59 PL games against Man United.
Latest performances in all competitions
Everton: L-L-L-W-L
Manchester United: D-L-W-L-D
Everton
Everton will look to arrest their miserable run of form when they welcome Manchester United to Goodison Park in the Premier League’s round 32 lunchtime clash.
The Toffees are on a terrible run of form that will leave even the most faithful fans with a headache. The recent appointment of Frank Lampard could not stop the rot as Everton continues to look out of sorts.
They sit in 17th position in the league standings and come into this tie on the back of a 3-2 loss to relegation-threatened Burnley at the Turf Moor Stadium. Sean Dyche’s side opened the scoring through Nathan Collins, but Richarlison scored twice from the penalty spot to give his side the lead heading into the second half.
However, second-half goals from Jay Rodriguez and Maxwel Cornet ensured that Frank Lampard’s men remain just one point above them in the relegation battle.
The hosts’ road to survival won’t be easy as they face both Leicester City and Liverpool in the same month, but first up is Manchester United; a team they have struggled to beat in the Premier League.
But with just one win in their last five games, there is no better time than now to turn things around and an unlikely win against United at Goodison Park may be the flame that sparks the fire of their survival.
Everton were without the injured trio of Andros Townsend, Nathan Patterson and Tom Davies. The trio are expected to sit out the match against the Red Devils.
Possible Everton starting line-up
Jordan Pickford; Jonjoe Kenny, Michael Keane, Ben Godfrey, Vitaliy Mykolenko; Mason Holgate, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Alex Iwobi; Demarai Gray, Richarlison, Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Injured: Andros Townsend, Nathan Patterson and Tom Davies
Doubtful: Yerry Mina, Andre Gomes
Suspended: None
Manchester United
Manchester United saw their top-four hopes take a hit with a draw against Leicester City over the weekend. Their fate was further compounded by West Ham United’s win over Everton to move into sixth place, sending the Red Devils down to seventh.
Ralf Rangnick’s side have picked up just one win in their last six matches in all competitions, which includes their Champions League games against Atletico Madrid. The Red Devils have been dumped out of all domestic competitions and are at the risk of missing out on European football next season.
With their well documented on-field woes this season, Manchester United will be eager to shake off the bad run of games to secure a top-four placement come the end of the season. They will fancy themselves as favourites to grab all three points at Goodison Park.
With a crunch tie against Liverpool coming up in two weeks, Ralf Rangnick will hope that his boys pick up an easy win against the Toffees to avoid any slip-ups as they brace up for the Crunch tie against the Reds.
Edinson Cavani was the only player who missed the clash with Leicester through injury, Cristiano Ronaldo who missed the game through illness, will be expected to lead the lines after turning back to training.
Possible Manchester United starting line-up
David de Gea; Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Rafael Varane, Alex Telles; Fred, Scott McTominay, Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba; Jadon Sancho, Anthony Elanga.
Injured: Edinson Cavani
Doubtful: Cristiano Ronaldo
Suspended: Mason Greenwood
Prediction
Everton 1-2 Manchester United