Manchester United are back in action on Monday night with a huge game against Everton, but what can we expect and how can the Red Devils walk out victors?
This season is about to get interesting at Old Trafford, with Manchester United right in top-four contention, having been unbeaten in nine Premier League games.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 2 |  Manchester CityManchester City |
26 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 54 | 24 | 30 | 53 |
| 3 |  Aston VillaAston Villa |
26 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 37 | 27 | 10 | 50 |
| 4 |  Manchester UnitedManchester United |
26 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 47 | 37 | 10 | 45 |
| 5 |  ChelseaChelsea |
26 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 47 | 30 | 17 | 44 |
| 6 |  LiverpoolLiverpool |
26 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 41 | 35 | 6 | 42 |
But, having drawn last time out, almost a fortnight ago, 1-1 against West Ham, United need to bounce back with a win to keep hold of the top four, and potentially close to gap to those above.
Michael Carrick is right in contention to become permanent as things stand, but the next few games will make or break his chances. This, of course, follows the previous clash, which was a 1-0 loss at Old Trafford to a 10-man David Moyes side.
So at the Hill Dickinson on Monday night, United need to win, but what will the Toffees bring to the table?
What will Everton’s team be vs Manchester United?
Coming into this one, Everton are in very mediocre form but particularly their home form is an area of confidence for the Red Devils. The Toffees haven’t won in their last five at home, with three losses and two draws.
And they won’t benefit from a full-strength side against United.
Jake O’Brien is suspended, while Jack Grealish’s season has already ended, which makes it fairly obvious how David Moyes will line up.
In goal will be Jordan Pickford, while the back four will consist of Nathan Patterson on the right, Vitalii Mykolenko on the left, and in the central defender roles, Michael Keane and James Tarkowski will start.
Midfield should consist of Idrissa Gueye and James Garner, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall ahead of him.
The attack will see Thierno Barry start, flanked by Iliman Ndiaye and Tyrique George.
What are the biggest threats for Everton?
There will be a handful of battles to decide the game, but United will be particularly concerned about Ndiaye’s threat.
Iliman Ndiaye
Ndiaye has been linked with United this season as a potential left-sided forward option, but he will probably start on the left here, giving Luke Shaw a tough task.
For this reason, United needs to make sure to double up on him when out of possession to try and shut his creativity down and not let him get running.
This could either result in the left-sided forward getting back quickly or even Kobbie Mainoo or Bruno Fernandes dropping to the side to support against the biggest danger man.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Another opponent United need to keep an eye on is Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
The attacking midfielder is likely to start in the 10, and he has really good ability in terms of crashing the box for shots and is also dangerous when shooting outside the box, as United will know because he scored in the previous outing.
United will need to avoid giving him too much space on the edge of the box, and perhaps it will fall to Casemiro to stay on him so we don’t concede another goal to his hands.
Thierno Barry
United will have to be wary of Thierno Barry, with the forward finding really good form with four goals in his last eight games.
Barry is a big threat in the six-yard box. With his good movement, he is also tall and quick.
The biggest danger is how quickly he reacts to rebounds or loose balls in the box, and so Senne Lammens needs to hold his saves or make sure to push them out of the danger zone. The centre-backs also need to be switched on; otherwise, Barry could get some easy chances.
Set-pieces
While they’ve not scored as many goals as United from set-pieces this season, Everton’s height is always going to make defending corners a tough task.
That being said, the absence of O’Brien will make this task slightly more manageable.
Particularly, Harry Maguire should be man-marking James Tarkowski.
The biggest weaknesses of Everton
Everton will present United with a different task to West Ham, with it being less of a low block, more of a mid-block, which suits Michael Carrick’s side.
The Toffees tend to press quite high at times, especially at home, with the midfield two often dragged too high up the pitch, which leaves a lot of space between the lines.
Against Fulham in their 2-1 win, Everton were sliced open multiple times by quick breaks, with the midfield absent defensively. There are multiple instances of this in their past five games.
This lack of positional discipline can also be taken advantage of further up the pitch. Gueye is a ball-winner, so he has a tendency to hunt the ball, similar to Manuel Ugarte, and this often can leave acres of space in the midfield.
If exploited properly, United could use Fernandes as a decoy with Mainoo playing a bounce pass, which drags Gueye forward as he follows the club captain, and then Casemiro or Amad could exploit that space.
United could easily split Everton open this way, while another method would be down the flanks.
Everton’s full-backs are their weakest positions, with the right particularly susceptible due to Ndiaye’s tendency not to track back all the time.
Here, crosses to the back post have been exploited by Everton’s opponents in recent weeks, as even though the centre-backs are big, they tend to be poor at defending balls that are going behind them.
The defensive line is also quite quick to drop back, leaving plenty of space around the box and also in the box at times, with the midfield prone to jumping. Matheus Cunha could be a real option as he will have a lot of space, but Benjamin Sesko, for the same reasons, given his impressive finishing.
One final note is that Everton haven’t been good at stopping opponents’ passes between the lines from defence to attack, and so Lisandro Martinez to the striker is a viable route if done on the ground.
Everton’s form at the Hill Dickinson is bad, because they play a lot more progressively there, given fan expectations, which means United likely have a comfortable night.
Who will be key for Manchester United?
United’s game will be won and lost within the midfield, as the defence should be able to handle Everton’s often timid attacks. While the attack is more than good enough to score a couple.
But the midfield faces James Garner, and that is where Kobbie Mainoo comes in.
-
Premier League
-
EvertonEverton
Manchester UnitedManchester United
-
Mainoo will likely impact proceedings with his passing and ball-carrying, and actually could get among the goals in this one.
Given the space Gueye leaves, if Fernandes drags the pair of midfielders out of position, it could lead to Mainoo getting on the ball a lot in and around the box.
What Carrick has said about Everton
Despite the obvious weaknesses, United will still be in for a hard fight against Everton.
Speaking to the press on MUTV ahead of the Monday night game, Carrick has predicted a tough night.
“Listen, there’s a lot that goes into a game. David [Moyes] teams are hard to play against, you know, and he’s such a good manager, and with the experience he’s got and knowing what it takes to have success in this league, and it’s a new challenge for us, you know, it’s one we’re looking forward to.
“I think it’s one where we’ve had a lot of time to kind of, to look forward to it. So yeah, it’s gonna take a lot. I think it’s going away to Everton.
“I know it’s a new stadium, but historically, it’s always been tough. It’s always been the atmosphere and the supporters that they create. I think it’s always been one of the toughest ones that I’ve played away from home, so we’re aware of that.
“And then trying to be our best way we can, you know. I think we’ve got things to improve on, but we’ve got a good base and a good foundation moving forward. Good spirit. So we’ll have to draw on pretty much all of that on Monday night.”
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/8QlvJMB