Match Preview
Idrissa Gueye is rated as doubtful for Everton’s trip to Old Trafford on Saturday where they will take on Manchester United, still looking to end what is now the Blues’ longest run without a win in the Premier League for 30 years.
The Senegalese midfielder had to be withdrawn less than five minutes into the second half of the Blues’ 1-1 draw at Brighton a fortnight ago and missed the defeat to West Ham last weekend with a groin problem.
Sean Dyche said in his press conference ahead of the game that Gueye “has a chance” of being passed fit enough to make the squad but it’s unlikely.
Meanwhile, Arnaut Danjuma, who has been sidelined with ankle ligament damage since the goalless encounter with Fulham at the end of January, continues to make progress, in the manager’s words, but won’t be available until after Everton’s upcoming three-week break in the fixture list.
Dyche indicated that the team will likely travel to a training camp in Europe during the hiatus which will hopefully give the squad some time to recharge their batteries, with some players looking particularly jaded in recent matches.
Before that, however, Dyche will need to plot a way to become the first Everton manager to win on United’s home turf since December 2013 when Bryan Oviedo famously scored a late winner that ended what was, at that time, a 21-year wait for victory at Old Trafford.
Since then, the Toffees have drawn four and lost five in this fixture, but last season’s version was a depressingly routine home win for the Red Devils who ran out 2-0 winners last April.
Dyche is also grappling with his team’s failure to win at all in the Premier League since mid-December, the worst such sequence since 1994, which hasn’t been helped by his players’ failings in front of goal and an increasingly vulnerability at the back where, previously, they were particularly strong.
Having not conceced a headed goal in the league all season, they’ve now conceded in that manner in consecutive games, the first at the Amex Stadium when Lewis Dunk equalised in stoppage time and then last weekend when Kurt Zouma connected with a James Ward-Prowse corner to level that game.
Dyche’s response to Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal drought was to start Beto against the Hammers and though the Portuguese saw a penalty saved, he atoned in the second half by converting James Garner’s delicious cross to notch his second league goal since signing from Udinese last summer.
Whether the manager retains him in the starting XI for a tricky away fixture against erratic but possession-focused United, when a more traditional centre-forward capable of holding the ball up better and winning aerial duals might be more suitable, remains to be seen, however.
The other potential changes are at right-back, where Seamus Coleman is fit again but hasn’t added to his tally of Premier League appearances due to the presence of Ben Godfrey but Dyche appears to be content with the latter playing out of position, and right-midfield where Jack Harrison’s form has been patchy of late.
The on-loan winger was particularly poor last week against West Ham and was hooked in favour of André Gomes in the second half but his industry and the Portuguese midfielder’s struggles to stay fit – he missed training on Thursday, according to the Liverpool Echo – mean that the former will likely keep his place for this one.
For their part, United come into this game under another cloud given the grumbles from fans at Erik ten Hag’s management of the team and and media speculation over his future, with Brighton having to come out and state the importance to them of Roberto de Zerbi, a reported target for the new ownership structure at Old Trafford.
Their defeat in the Manchester derby last Sunday was their 11th in the Premier League this season and, unusually for a them and a team chasing Europe, they currently have a goal difference of -2.
Added to that, Ten Hag has a number of injury concerns which could, in the worst case, deprive him of up to 10 first-team players. Luke Shaw, Lisandro Martinez, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Tom Heaton, Tyrell Malacia and Mason Mount are ruled out while it looks as though Anthony Martial, a regular scourge of Everton teams past, will also be missing.
Meanwhile, there are reports that Jonny Evans, Harry Maguire and Rasmus Hojlund face late fitness tests.
All of which means that there are possibilities for Everton, who have arguably been better away from home than at Goodison Park over the past three months, to capitalise on the instability and unrest at Old Trafford and get something from this game.
It’s hard to put into words what a rare win would mean while a point would be more than useful but a loss would make the barren three-week gap in the schedule feel that much more deflating.
Kick-off: 12:30 pm, Saturday 9 March 2024
Referee: Simon Hooper
VAR: David Coote
Last Time: Manchester United 2 – 0 Everton
Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Godfrey, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Onana, Garner, Harrison, McNeil, Doucouré, Calvert-Lewin