Man Utd vs Everton: Match Preview | Struggling Toffees still seeking first win of 2024
The Blues risk being dragged right back into the relegation mire
Everton travels the short distance east to Old Trafford in hopes of winning their first Premier League match of 2024, with the prospect of a third straight relegation fight hanging over them.
Last Saturday, the Toffees let a great opportunity to distance themselves from the bottom three against West Ham.
Their persistent inability to convert opportunities was once again their weak point; even a draw seemed unsatisfactory before the Hammers scored twice in stoppage time.
Defeats for Forest and Luton minimised the damage, but it must go down as an opportunity missed.
After Saturday’s game Everton just have one more match in March – away at Bournemouth on the 30th – by which time their position could look very different.
If they fail to win either match then it will equal the record winless run of 12 games set by Mike Walker during their miserable start to the 1994-95 season.
Some context is needed, plenty of recent results have been draws and performances on the whole have not been too bad. But it is still an ugly period of the season that could drag the Toffees right back into the mire, meaning we will once again be spending the final weeks of the season nervously checking other results.
The opposition
Manchester United are enduring a period of turbulence of their own, though on a different scale to that of Everton’s.
The Red Devils have now gone more than a decade without winning the title, something that felt unheard of under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Five defeats in seven over Christmas saw an early exit from the Champions League and hopes of a title challenge falter, cranking up the pressure on Erik ten Hag.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of a stake in the club from the unpopular Glazer family has given the club the chance of a fresh start, with Ratcliffe busy rebuilding the scouting and recruitment side of the club, as well as unveiling ambitions to redevelop Old Trafford, which is starting to show its age.
Despite their struggles the arrival of Everton is usually the chance for them to secure a morale boosting win.
The Toffees have won just two of 31 Premier League visits to Old Trafford, the last coming in December 2013 thanks to Bryan Oviedo’s goal.
Previous meeting
Goodison was a cauldron of royal blue fury when Man Utd visited in November for Everton’s first match since the 10-point deduction. What we didn’t count on was Alejandro Garnacho scoring a worldie of an overhead kick in the first minute to deflate the atmosphere. Marcus Rashford doubled the lead from the spot after the break before Anthony Martial got his customary goal against Everton to finish things off.
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