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Premier League preview: Everton vs Manchester United

Everton are scheduled to host Manchester United in Sunday’s Premier League clash at Goodison Park.

The Toffees recently suffered a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Arsenal and that ended their five-match unbeaten run in the top-flight. In comparison, United were able to make it two league wins on the bounce after a 3-0 triumph over Watford at Old Trafford.

United are presently four points behind fourth-placed Chelsea in the standings but they have the opportunity to reduce the deficit to a single point after the Blues only managed a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth on Saturday.

The hosts, on the other hand, are five points adrift of fifth-placed United on the table but they can enhance their European prospects for next season by beating Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side on their home turf.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side will definitely have the fresher set of players for the forthcoming clash, considering United were in Europa League action against Club Brugge on Thursday night.

The Red Devils had a slender away-goal advantage after the 1-1 draw in the round of 32 first leg in Bruges but they managed to seal a comfortable 5-0 win in the return leg after the Belgian outfit had a man sent off after just 22 minutes.

Players to watch out for:

Bruno Fernandes – Manchester United: The Portuguese has made a huge impression since his arrival from Sporting Lisbon in January. He has contributed two goals and two assists from his first four starts for United and he should provide the key threat to the Toffees backline. Fernandes does not have an overly impressive passing percentage (77%) but he has already excelled with an eye for key passes behind the opposition defence. The 25-year-old also prefers to make regular runs into the box and his quick feet have already helped United win a penalty last weekend from which he scored his debut club goal.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin – Everton: At the beginning of the season, it was anticipated that summer signing Moise Kean would take over the striker duties from Calvert-Lewin. However, that has not been the case and over the course of the campaign, the 22-year-old has managed to score 12 goals from 25 league appearances. The youngster proved a handful for the Gunners last weekend with his physical presence in the box and he could have quite easily scored more than one goal. Calvert-Lewin bagged an assist in the Toffees’ 4-0 home win over United last term. He also indirectly contributed to Victor Lindelof’s own goal in the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford this season after his controversial challenge on David de Gea.

Prediction:

Everton gave a good account of themselves at the Emirates Stadium last weekend and they could have shared the spoils with better finishing on the day.

In front of their home fans, the Toffees should be motivated for the visit of the Red Devils and we are fancying the game to end in a high-scoring draw.

The Merseyside outfit have picked up four points from the previous two Premier League meetings against United, as per whoscored.com.

Everton 2-2 Manchester United

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