Manchester United will be a buoyed side when they make the trip to Goodison Park to face Everton. United recovered from a 1-1 draw against West Ham before beating the same team 4-1 in midweek in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup. United played a fairly strong team in the midweek clash and ensured progress to the semi-finals.
Jose Mourinho has endured a difficult start to his Manchester United tenure with the team failing to gel for any continuous period of time. They have shown glimpses of what they can achieve but it hasn’t been sustained enough to instil the required confidence in the fans as of yet.
They will be facing an Everton side who are just 1 point behind the Red Devils. The Toffees had got off to a flier winning four matches on the bounce after a draw against Tottenham Hotspur in the opening weekend. But they have won just 1 in the last 8 and need to buckle up against the likes of Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimović. They would be desperate to avoid anything like the 5-0 scoreline against Chelsea and for that the start has to be positive.
With both the teams looking jittery at the start, the opening half might turn out to be crucial.
PREDICTED MANCHESTER UNITED LINE-UP VS EVERTON (4-2-3-1)
DEFENCE
David de Gea’s blunder allowed West Ham to equalise and while the Hammers couldn’t capitalise on that, the same might not be the case with Everton. He has to be at his usual level to thwart the Toffees. Valencia will most likely be at right-back and will look to peg the home team on the back-foot with his attacking forays.
Phil Jones will line up at centre-back after exuding enough confidence in his last couple of displays and will most likely be partnered by Marcos Rojo. Darmian has been used in recent matches and might once again be deployed as a makeshift left-back.
MIDFIELD
Ander Herrera and Michael Carrick will fight out for a spot beside Paul Pogba in midfield. Pogba, who was suspended for the EFL Cup fixture, will make an immediate comeback. He was slated for his ludicrous dive last weekend and will like to put on a display which will put that bit on the back-burner.
ATTACK
Mourinho can look for a new look three behind the striker with Martial being picked after his brace in midweek and Mkhitaryan on the right wing. Juan Mata can be the ideal No.10 with Zlatan Ibrahimović leading the line.
