Manchester United and Everton will be looking to return to winning ways in the Premier League when they do battle at Old Trafford on Saturday lunchtime.
The two teams meet for the first time since November last year when the Red Devils secured a 3-0 victory at Goodison Park, where Alejandro Garnacho scored arguably the goal of the season with a spectacular overhead kick.
Match preview
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Man United were showing signs of progress in February following a promising four-game winning run in the Premier League, but they have since been brought back down to earth after losing consecutive top-flight matches against Fulham and Manchester City.
Not long after minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe vowed to help the Red Devils knock rivals Man City and Liverpool "off their perch" at the summit of English football, Erik ten Hag's side were given a reality check against their bitter sky blue adversaries last weekend as they were dominated in a 3-1 derby defeat at the Etihad Stadium – their 11th league loss of the campaign.
Despite leading at half time courtesy of a sensational early opener from Marcus Rashford, Man United could not withstand Man City's lethal attack after the break, as a brace from Phil Foden and a late strike form Erling Haaland helped the title-chasing Citizens claim the bragging rights and move a staggering 18 points clear of the Red Devils down in sixth spot.
Man United's Champions League hopes are hanging by a thread as they currently sit 11 points behind Aston Villa in fourth and six points behind Tottenham Hotspur in fifth. Nevertheless, Ten Hag and co will look to close in on both Villa and Spurs – who face off on Sunday – with a much-needed victory over Everton on Saturday.
Although United only have the 10th-best home record in the Premier League this season (W7, D1, L5), the Red Devils have reason to be optimistic of success against Everton as they have won a total of 40 league meetings with the Toffees – the joint-most one side has against another in the division's history – including each of their last four by an aggregate score of 8-1.
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Many would have assumed that Everton's successful appeal to reduce their 10-point punishment for breaching Profit and Sustainability Rules to six could provide the club with a much-needed boost ahead of last weekend's home encounter with an out-of-sorts West Ham United outfit.
The Toffees were on course to claim three precious points as Beto made amends for his earlier penalty miss to head the hosts in front just before the hour mark. However, their lead was short-lived as former Everton loanee Kurt Zouma equalised for West Ham just six minutes later, before Tomas Soucek and Edson Alvarez scored in stoppage time to help the Hammers snatch maximum points in a 3-1 win at Goodison Park.
Sean Dyche's men have failed to win any of their last 10 Premier League games, including all seven so far in 2024 which is their joint-longest winless run at the start of a calendar year in their league history. With another possible points deduction looming, they remain in danger of the drop as they currently sit 16th in the table, five points above 18th-placed Luton Town who have a game in hand.
Everton's form away from home has declined in recent weeks, having not won any of their last five and have scored just twice, so Dyche will be keen to see his side revive the spark that they had during a run of five wins in six games on the road between September and December, scoring 10 goals in the process.
However, success on Saturday could prove challenging for the Toffees, as they have won just one, drawn eight and lost 21 of their last 30 Premier League visits to Old Trafford, with their solitary triumph taking place in December 2013 when Roberto Martinez steered his side to a 1-0 win over David Moyes's Red Devils.
Team News
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Man United duo Rashford and Jonny Evans have been declared fit to feature on Saturday by Ten Hag, after shaking off knocks they carried prior to the Manchester derby.
However, Premier League Player of the Month Rasmus Hojlund (muscle), Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka (both unspecified) are all targeting a return for United's FA Cup quarter-final with Liverpool on March 17, while Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia (both knee), Luke Shaw (muscle), Anthony Martial (groin) and Mason Mount (calf) all remain in the treatment room.
Kobbie Mainoo, who was handed his first Premier League start in the reverse fixture against Everton, is expected to continue in centre-midfield with Casemiro, while Ten Hag will ponder whether to start Victor Lindelof or Sofyan Amrabat at left-back, with the former most likely to get the nod if Evans starts in central defence alongside Raphael Varane.
As for Everton, Dele Alli (groin) and Arnaut Danjuma (ankle) both remain sidelined with injuries, while Idrissa Gueye (groin) and Andre Gomes (calf) are major doubts and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Lewis Dobbin recovered from an ankle problem to make a substitute appearance last time out, and the Toffees youngster is in contention to feature against Man United, although a midfield triumvirate of Amadou Onana, Abdoulaye Doucoure and ex-Red Devils man James Garner is set to remain intact.
Veteran right-flanker Ashley Young, another former United player, will battle with Ben Godfrey and Nathan Patterson for a start at right-back, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin – who has not scored a Premier League goal since October 29 – will be pushing to start up front ahead of Beto.
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
Onana; Dalot, Varane, Evans, Lindelof; Casemiro, Mainoo; Antony, Fernandes, Garnacho; Rashford
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Godfrey, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Harrison, Garner, Onana, McNeil; Doucoure; Calvert-Lewin
We say: Manchester United 2-1 Everton
Man United and Everton are under pressure for different reasons to pick up precious points from now until the end of the season, and while both teams will fancy their chances of claiming a positive result on Saturday, the Red Devils will be regarded as favourites to come out on top.
The onus will be on the hosts to take the game to Everton in front of a fired-up Old Trafford crowd, and although they will be without the presence of Hojlund in attack, we believe they will ultimately find a way to breach what has recently become a leaky Toffees backline to claim a slender victory.
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