Everton vs Manchester United

March 9, 2024

Manchester United take on Everton at Old Trafford in Saturday's lunchtime kick-off.

The Red Devils are on a four-game winning streak against Everton in all competitions, including a 3-0 victory at Goodison Park earlier this season. The game will also be remembered for Alejandro Garnacho's amazing overhead kick that opened the scoring.

The Toffees, on the other hand, will be keen to claim their first win against United since April 2022, when Anthony Gordon's first-half winner made the difference.

Manchester United Betting Preview (-118 at Everygame)

The Red Devils will be looking to bounce back following their 3-1 defeat to bitter rivals Manchester City last weekend. It was their sixth Manchester derby defeat in the last seven meetings between the clubs.

While Manchester United got back to winning ways against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup last Tuesday, it was not the most convincing of performances and Erik ten Hag’s side were pretty unfortunate to face Man City only a few days later.

As a result, the Red Devils have now lost further ground in the race for a Champions League (top four or top five) finish. They'll look to put back-to-back league defeats behind them here.

As things stand right now, Erik ten Hag's side sit sixth in the Premier League table, six points behind Tottenham Hotspur in fifth. Yet, Spurs also have a game in hand but they are also set for a clash against fellow top-four hopefuls Aston Villa this weekend.

Only two times in the Premier League era have Manchester United lost 12 games in a single campaign (in 2013-14 and 2021-22) - either of them after sir Alex Ferguson's retirement. They are now on 11 defeats from 27 games and it looks like they might have their worst season if things don't drastically improve over the coming weeks.

Still, Erik ten Hag remains beset by injury problems ahead of the weekend's clash with Everton.

The Dutchman will need a really strong end to the season to convince the club and the new stakeholders he's the right man to take the team forward.

Marcus Rashford ended a long-lasting goal drought when he scored at Goodison Park in November and the England forward will be looking to add to his tally amid speculations over his future.

Rasmus Hojlund continues his recovery and the Danish forward joins the likes of Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia, Lisandro MArtinez, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Mason Mount on the sidelines.

Meanwhile, veteran Jonny Evans and Marcus Rashford will be in contention for the weekend, but Harry Maguire is ruled out.

Everton Betting Preview (+300 at Everygame)

The Toffees may have had their 10-point deduction reduced to six, yet they continue to struggle to earn points on the field, slipping to a 3-1 defeat to West Ham United at Goodison Park last weekend.

Sean Dyche's men have gone 10 top-flight games without a victory and their next three games are all on the road against Manchester United, Bournemouth and Newcastle before they host fellow strugglers Burnley next month.

With just one win in their last 14 matches across all competitions - a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace in the FA Cup in mid-January - The Evertonians were forced to experience another difficult week.

Sean Dyche's men suffered a late home defeat to West Ham United last weekend. Thus, Everton are still looking for their first league win since mid-December.

Despite their poor form, Sean Dyche is not one of the very top favorites to get sacked, with a few other Premier League managers ahead of him in the bookmakers odds.

The Toffees still have a five-point cushion over the bottom three but 18^th-place Luton Town have a game in hand and the gap could be reduced.

This will be Everton's last game prior to this month's international break as the Merseyside Blues will resume activity on 30 March, when they head to the south coast to face Bournemouth.

So, with that said, could this really be Sean Dyche's last game in charge if the Toffees don't impress at Old Trafford? Everton will have a lot of time to appoint a new manager but that's also a risky move at this point of the campaign.

It remains to be seen whether Beto will keep his place in attack. The Portuguese forward missed a penalty but he also scored - his second league goal of the season - and had a decent game against West Ham, so Sean Dyche could once again start him over Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who is yet to score since October.

Experienced Senegalese midfielder Idrissa Gueye will be assessed ahead of the short trip to Manchester, but Dele Alli and Arnaut Danjuma both remain sidelined for Everton.

Possible Starting Lineups of Manchester United and Everton

Manchester United: Andre Onana - Diogo Dalot, Raphael Varane, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof - Casemiro, Kobbie Mainoo - Antony, Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho - Marcus Rashford. (4-2-3-1)

Everton: Jordan Pickford - Ben Godfrey, James Tarkowski, Jarrad Branthwaite, Vitalii Mykolenko - Jack Harrison, James Garner, Amadou Onana, Dwight McNeil - Abdoulaye Doucoure - Beto. (4-4-1-1)

Spooky Express Betting Prediction

Everton have the third worst attack in the Premier League with 29 goals in 27 games (just behind the bottom two clubs) and we can say that they have been largely wasteful throughout the season.

They'll need to overcome their poor finishing if they are to succeed at Old Trafford, while they also hold a decent defensive record - Everton boast the fourth-best stats in the division along with Aston Villa - conceding 37 times.

Realistically, even a point should be an acceptable outcome for Everton at Old Trafford, given the fact they have beat United there only once (1-0 in December 2013) in the 21^st century.

With just 37 goals in the Premier League this term, United have scored as many goals as Luton Town have and that's something they need to sort out when they face one of the tightest defensive lines in the league.

Spooky Express Free Play: Manchester United -118 at Everygame for 6/10 Units

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