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Manchester United travel to Merseyside tomorrow (Saturday) to face an buoyant Everton for what is the opening game of the Premier League weekend.
The 12:30 kick-off time is notorious for delivering a shock result or two but given the form of the two sides, the surprise might be United walking away with the three points.
The home side start the game as favourites with the bookmakers, which would have been unthinkable at the start of the campaign.
However, Ruben Amorim’s side are in the midst of an injury crisis and a wretched run of form, in comparison to the Toffees, who have picked up nicely since the return of former United manager David Moyes.
Additionally, tomorrow’s game will be United’s last visit to Goodson Park with Everton moving to their shiny new Bramley-Moore Dock home, now fit for purpose.
Therefore, the home fans will be more vicious than ever and settling the crowd down will be crucial in any success United are to enjoy.
Everton are likely to start fast and United will have to stand strong in the early exchanges, something they have struggled with throughout the season.
Amorim’s side will hope to take control of proceedings as quickly as possible and keep the ball away from their hosts, who will be desperate to land the first blow of the afternoon.
However, Everton are also missing players and should United play to their capabilities they will find themselves in dangerous areas throughout the 90 minutes.
It will then come down to how ruthless they can be. United’s last outing against Tottenham rather summed up exactly where Amorim’s forward players are at present with missed chances the story behind the disappointing 1-0 reverse.
Everton are particularly weak at full-back so United’s wing-backs should be as attacking as possible in order to pin the home side back and avoid settling into a back five of their own, which has happened far too often in recent weeks.
If United can create overloads in the wide areas with some clever play, chances should then flow for Rasmus Hojlund or Joshua Zirkzee.
Neither of the striking duo are playing with much confidence but a goal or two at Goodison could kick start a run of form for the remainder of the campaign that would be a huge shot in the arm for Amorim.
Defensively, United must avoid giving away sloppy set pieces. The inability to defend from dead balls has been alarmingly evident all season long and Everton are one of the best in the business at exploiting such situations.
Even Jordan Pickford will be instructed to launch the ball into United’s box from anywhere close to the half way line so United need to be up for the fight in the air.
Expect Noussair Mazraoui, Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt to line up in the back three given their height and experience with Andre Onana also expected to be in for a busy afternoon.
United are desperate for the points for obvious reasons but none more so to ease the pressure on Amorim, who is facing question marks even at this early stage of his tenure given the recent showings.
A win would leapfrog United above their hosts and they could find themselves in the dizzy heights of 12th come the end of the round of fixtures. A defeat, however, could see United as low as 16th and will do nothing to allay talk of relegation or Amorim’s position at the club.
Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images
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