It’s been an exceptionally busy week off the pitch for Everton as the transfer window drew to a close on Tuesday, but in the midst of all that, the Toffees have been preparing to host Manchester United at the Hill Dickinson Stadium this weekend, in what will be their first Sunday match of the season.
Last time out, Everton managed to nick a thoroughly deserved 1-1 draw at the Vitality, in a game which easily could have gone either way. Both teams leaked huge chances, with Thierno Barry missing a hattrick’s worth of them, meaning a draw was, overall, a fair result. Everton will have been disappointed not to have been awarded a penalty in the second half for a blatant foul on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, but should also count themselves lucky that Bournemouth weren’t already out of sight before James Tarkowski’s injury-time equaliser. Overall, it was a solid point away at a great team, which ensured Everton’s unbeaten start to the season continued.
Since then, it feels as if an entire lifetime has occurred. The purpose of these pieces are to preview the upcoming match, however it feels silly to ignore the off-field issues which Everton have faced within the last week. The Blues have now been left with one striker, one left-back, and one right-back until January at the very least, after the Deadline Day disgrace. It’s simply not good enough, and will be talked about to death before Sunday’s match; expect a fiery atmosphere with Moyes’ side having their backs to the wall.
Sunday’s opponents have had a mixed start to the season, to say the least. On paper, two promoted sides in their first two matches seemed like the perfect was to kick off the season for Manchester United, but in reality, it looked like it could have been quite the opposite. Coming off the back of a 2-0 defeat away to Hull, in which they never looked like competing, the Red Devils found themselves 1-0 at home to Ipswich where fans were, again, fearing the worst. After that, however, Bruno Fernandes grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck, scoring a hattrick and getting an additional assist on the way to a 5-2 victory, showing that when they’re on it, United can still blow any team away.
Everton and Manchester United – History
This fixture ended in defeat for Everton last season, with United coming away with a 1-0 win courtesy of a Benjamin Sesko winner.
Everton have only won 7 of their last 31 matches against United in the Premier League, with the Manchester side winning more than double that, with 15 wins.
One of Everton’s most iconic Goodison Park wins in recent memory came at the hands of United in 2019, where the Blues breezed past them on their way to a 4-0 win.
Team News
Everton now have only 18 senior players to choose from. Not through injury. Through choice.
Christian Norgaard is still injured with the severity of his condition unclear.
James Garner made his first start in the Premier League this season against Bournemouth, suggesting he is on the road back to full fitness.
Everton Key Player
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – At times like these, you look at a player like Dewsbury-Hall and thank your lucky stars that he plays for your club. A 90-minute man week in week out, dependable, consistent, experienced, confident – the list of adjectives to describe this man goes on. If Everton could build their team full of one player, it would easily be him. The 27-year-old scored that memorable winner at Old Trafford last year, in Everton’s last win against United, which was a game which epitomised what Dewsbury-Hall brings to the team: ball-carrying, ball retention, and grit.
The issue, now, for Everton’s number 8 is that he has lost probably the only player who was better than him on the ball at the whole club, and who he tended to link up to best, in Iliman Ndiaye. However, Jack Grealish has returned to the club, who is clearly someone that Dewsbury-Hall respects by how often he looked to feed him with the ball last season. Very often, Everton fall into the trap of standing and watching Dewsbury-Hall run with the ball, instead of providing any help – all the more reason why Grealish could prove to be a vital deadline day signing.
Looking ahead to Sunday, I don’t particularly rate United’s midfield outside of the obvious exception in Bruno Fernandes. Kobbie Mainoo is good, yes, but his work rate off the ball is still questionable, and Youri Tielemans was a complete disgrace against Hull, to say the least. Dewsbury-Hall blows both of them out of the water with his athleticism, so this is certainly a key area of the pitch on Sunday.
One to Watch for Manchester United
Bruno Fernandes – Could it have been anyone else? The Portuguese has undoubtedly been United’s best signing of the past decade, probably even longer, and seems to somehow be getting better and better. Breaking the record (somewhat controversially) for the most assists in a Premier League season in last year’s campaign earnt him the PFA Player of the Year, an extraordinary achievement for a team who were never in any chance of winning any trophies. He is the heart of the team and, without him, it’s difficult to think of where United may be.
Last time out, Bruno scored a hattrick and got an assist for Bryan Mbeumo against Ipswich. He started the game slowly, hardly getting involved, carrying on from where he left off in his sub-par performance against Hull in Gameweek 1, but after a fortunate slip allowed Matheus Cunha to play him in, Fernandes seemed to kick into gear and show the league why he is the reigning player of the year. I said that the midfield battle will be key on Sunday, and if Fernandes is just half as good as he was last time out, United could breeze past Everton here.
Final Thoughts
In the midst of all of the constant doom and gloom and the twists and turns of Tuesday evening, it has been easy to forget that Everton do, in fact, have to play a football match on Sunday. Halfway through writing this piece, it emerged that Everton’s owners The Friedkin Group are looking for investors, perhaps even buyers, into the club. It’s clear what has happened since they took over the club; they saw an opportunity to make some easy money without realising how much work goes into maintaining a Premier League club, and a huge one at that. Regardless of who is in charge or who has joined or left the club, Everton have a job to do on Sunday. The Hill Dickinson Stadium is going to have some atmosphere this weekend, as Evertonians everywhere will be looking to release their pent-up frustration into this United team.
For a prediction, however, I am leaning towards a United win, perhaps another boring 1-0. The Red Devils seem to have a knack of knocking the stuffing out of Everton and managing to come away with a result no matter what the circumstances are. I’m happy to be proven wrong. Don’t forget, Everton are still unbeaten this season, as much as it doesn’t feel like it…
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