Sunday 17th September 2017 Kickoff:1600hrs Manchester United v Everton Football – England – Premier League There’s bound to be plenty of emotion at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon as Wayne Rooney makes a quick return to a club where he enjoyed so much success and broke a plethora of records. He brings a hurting Everton team who have lost their last two games by 3-0 and will be looking to put that right, but it will be hard against a Manchester United team who have looked a completely different animal this season and despite dropping their first points of the season last weekend, are well in the mix at the top of the table.
United have started this season very strongly and it appears that Jose Mourinho is beginning to stamp his mark on the club following his first year in charge when they struggled for consistency in the league. Three straight wins over West Ham, Swansea and Leicester City seen them shoot to the top of the Premier League and they achieved that without conceding a goal. That winning run came to an end last time out when they could manage only a draw away to Stoke, conceding their first goals of the season in the process. All things considered it has been an excellent start to the season and they strolled to victory in their first Champions League group stage match with a 3-0 win over Basle. Mourinho opted to freshen things up but he will be frustrated with the injury picked up by Paul Pogba who has been excellent in the opening weeks. It is likely that former Toffee Marouane Fellaini will get the nod to replace Pogba having opened the scoring in midweek when coming off the bench.
Everton were amongst the biggest spending clubs in England during the summer and when you dispense with the sums of money they did, it automatically increases expectations. The new owners have stipulated their desire for the club to be challenging for Champions League positions and above in due course, but in the evidence we’ve seen so far, that remains a long way off. Their defeat against Chelsea was concerning in that they barely laid a glove on the Champions and the 2-0 score line potentially flattered them. That has been followed by two very disappointing defeats – at home to Tottenham and away to Atalanta in the Europa League. Even the 1-1 draw away to Manchester City was not as positive a result as it could have been considering the circumstances it was gained. There’s no doubting it’s been a difficult beginning to the campaign in terms of the teams they’ve faced, but Everton have to show much more if they are to be remotely involved in a battle for the top four. More realistically Everton will be looking to cement their place in the top six with a view to being more competitive, more often in the games against the teams who are going for the title, and Sunday represents another chance to do just that.
Manchester United v Everton Betting Tip
Attention will inevitably be on Wayne Rooney following his return to Goodison Park this summer. Rooney won everything there was to be won during his 12 years with United, and became the club’s leading all-time goal scrorer in the process. That’s an indication of how much success he enjoyed and he will rightly be welcomed back by all at Old Trafford. Of course, he’s not the only striker who will be facing his old club as Romelu Lukaku moved in the opposite direction. Having been central to Everton’s attack for a number of seasons, the Belgian forward opted for United instead of Chelsea and it appears to have been a great choice thus far. Lukaku his hit the ground running for his new club and with four goals to his name already and has slotted seamlessly into his new team.
Although it’s early in the season, Everton have to show much more than what we’ve seen from them in the opening few weeks. They have capitulated in the last couple of games and can’t afford to do something similar in this one or they risk being blown away again. United have been ruthless for the most part and although they are a work in progress, they should have too much for their visitors. Lukaku will likely be over bet in every market due to the circumstances but he’s getting numerous chances each game and it’s going to be the case again when his old club come to town. Take him to score anytime during the 90 minutes.
Lukaku to score anytime 5/6 @ 10bet
