Everton aim for third win in a row against United

Manchester United entertain Everton this weekend and Louis van Gaal will know that his team need to pick up all three points if they are going to compete for the top four placings in this seasons Premier League.

The Manchester United manager has a number of injury concerns, especially in defensive areas with youngster Paddy McNair looking set to take his place in the team with Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans all struggling to return to full fitness in time for the match. Playmaker Juan Mata will have a chance to play in his preferred role behind the strikers with the suspension of Wayne Rooney and his manager will be looking for a strong display from the Spaniard. Other injuries in midfield to Michael Carrick and Ander Herrera could mean a start for Daley Blind in central midfield.

Roberto Martinez, who will be less than pleased with the 12pm Sunday kick off following a long journey back from Russia in the early hours of Friday morning, must continue to do without Ross Barkley and Kevin Mirallas. Other players, such as Steven Pienaar and Seamus Coleman could be fit enough to play some part in the game as Everton look to freshen things up after the 1-1 draw against Krasnodar.

Given the travelling that Everton have had to do prior to this match and the fact Manchester United`s players will be fresh, it`s little surprise that Manchester United are favourites to win this one at 4/6 with Coral. Despite registering two assists, big name loan signing Radamel Falcao has not found the back of the net for his new team as yet and the Colombian will want to get off the mark this weekend, he is 4/1 with paddypower to score first. As mentioned previously, Juan Mata needs to take full advantage of playing in his preferred role in the absence of Rooney and he is 12/5 with SkyBet to score at any time.

The odds being offered of 24/5 for an Everton win by stanjames reflect more on the European excursions by Everton than their recent form against the Red Devils. The Toffees have won three of their last four meetings with Manchester United, including a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford last season so they will not be fazed when coming up against Di Maria and company. Martinez will bring striker Romelu Lukaku back in to the team and he has the potential to cause a patched up United defence all sorts of problems in open play and also at corners. The Belgian striker is 15/2 with bet365 to open the scoring and Steven Naismith, who has already netted three times in the league this season, is 7/2 with Coral to add to his total at any time during the match.

Looking back to Everton`s last fixture following a Europe League match, a 3-2 home defeat to Crystal Palace and Manchester United`s record of being involved in high scoring games, this game has goals written all over it and BetVictor have odds of 3/5 for there to be over 2.5 goals and 8/13 for both teams to score.

Expect Everton to cause the Manchester United defence problems but with the international break approaching, van Gaal has the chance to go in to it with his team in confident mood and bet365 are offering odds of 22/1 for a 3-2 win for the home team. If Everton can keep things tight at the back, in the same way they have recently against Krasnodar and Liverpool, they could come away from Old Trafford with a precious point. A repeat of the 1-1 scoreline, as recorded in their previous two games, is 9/1 with BetVictor.

Go To bet365

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04/10/2014     © Frixo 2026