Man United v Everton odds

 

Manchester United V Everton

 

Kick-off: Saturday 21st November – 17:30 GMT

Venue: Old Trafford

TV Coverage: ESPN

 

  

 

Manchester United

 

League Position: 3rd

Recent Form: DWLWL

  

Sir Alex Ferguson usually comes out on top in the ‘Fergie Versus Moyes’ affair and Saturday shouldn’t be no different. Although the Red Devils did lose their last game before the break, losing 1-0 at Chelsea, they were given a small lifeline in the International break which has allowed them the chance to mull over what actually went wrong. What went wrong exactly? – Well, let’s just say luck wasn’t on United’s side… for once! 

 

Ferguson was bitterly disappointed with the final result at Chelsea but he was more distressed with some of the referring decisions, surprise-surprise. In our honest opinion, the ref didn’t have a too bad game and it’s United who only had themselves to blame after failing to convert the chances they did create after dominating throughout the course of the 90 minutes. Unlike their trip to Anfield last month, United showed no fear at The Bridge, taking the game by the scruff of the neck, controlling large periods of the game and created most of the decent opportunities. Although the result won’t have pleased a single United fan nor their grumpy manager, the performance was a a big positive as United had performed very poorly in their opening two encounters against the ‘Big Four’.  

 

The United players must now put that defeat to Chelsea to one side and concentrate on a tough fixture with Everton, a fixture they should win though. The last three meetings at Old Trafford have gone the way of the home side, and with United still boasting an unbeaten record at home this season (5-1-0), the Red Devils should probably win at a cantor, although Fergie will probably send me a message of displeasure for my comments. After all, we mustn’t forget Fergie’s jibe at Benitez for calling Everton a ‘small club’.

  

Manchester United at Old Trafford this season have been clinical rather than impressive. Five wins from six, the only blip being their 2-2 draw with Sunderland, of which they scraped a point out of the game. Two big sides have already fallen at the home of the Red Devils, with Arsenal (2-1) & Man City (4-3), both outplaying United to some extent but yet still ending up on the losing side. However, several teams have kinda shown this season that if you can defend stoutly at the home of United, and take your chances, then points are there for the taking. Sunderland exposed United last month, although, Everton’s defending has been far from satisfactory this season so perhaps this rule of thumb isn’t applicable this weekend.

 

 

 

 

Everton

 

League Position: 12th

Recent Form: DDLDW

  

With a relatively small squad, it was always going to be a big ask for David Moyes & Everton to replicate their end of season finish of last year – 5th position. However, not even the wildest of punters would have predicted the abysmal start Everton fans have had to endure up till this stage, with the Toffees found floundering in 12^th position, nearer the bottom of the league then the top. A trip to Old Trafford is never an ideal recipe for an early season recovery but perhaps this could be the game they need to kick boost their lacklustre season.

  

A point would be a fabulous result for Everton, and we feel that is what David Moyes will set his sights on, on Saturday. Firstly, he will need to insert some steel and resilience into that back four as they’ve been far too vulnerable for our liking. However, their offence is actually looking pretty good, especially Louis Saha, a former United employee, who has seven for the season, scoring in two of his last three league appearances. Perhaps the competition for places is now having the positive affect David Moyes was hoping for as injuries to forward thinking players has restricted Moyes’ forward options.

  

Everton’s away record thus far isn’t ideal, winning just the two, those coming against Portsmouth (0-1) & West Ham (1-2), although, the West Ham victory was their most recent and that victory could have rekindled their away spirits after previously losing on three of their last four outings. They don’t give too much away when on the road, although, they struggle to keep clean sheets at the same time. Their away goal record on the road stands at 6-7, with only Portsmouth failing to score against a travelling Everton, but only Fulham has managed to score more than once.

  

David Moyes is still without a whole host of players but that’s nothing new. He has had to contend with injuries to some of his key and influential players for some time now. The midfield is where Everton do look extremely light, with Phil Neville, Leon Osman and Steven Pienaar all out, and all would have been starters. Mainly the former two, are great at keeping hold of the ball and supplying the forwards and without them, Everton will and have struggled to compete in the centre of the park. That will be the case on Saturday, we have no doubts about that.

 

 

 

 

Head-to-Head:

 

Manchester United W: 6 Everton W: 1 Draws: 3 

 

United have generally enjoyed the arrival of Everton and have won the previous three encounters at Old Trafford, winning 1-0 last season, and 2-1 and 3-0 the two seasons gone before. However, Everton did hold United to a 0-0 draw in the FA Cup last season so they do undoubtedly have the credentials to frustrate a usual rampant Manchester United at Old Trafford, although, the chances of that happening this Saturday do look slimmer than ever.

 

Everton’s only victory over United came back in the 2004/2005 season, that coming by the way of a 1-0 win at Goodison Park, which, is unfortunately not the setting for this weekends fixture.

 

 

 

 

 

Match Verdict:- Manchester United to Win – 1.40 BlueSquare

 

As Kevin Keegan once put it “We would love it if we beat them”, although, I’m no Everton fan so why I’m using that quote is beyond reasoning. However, from a Liverpool fans perspective, we would be thrilled if our local ‘chums’ would put one over on United, but we just can’t see it happening. The Everton midfield looks out muscled before the game has even kicked off, while United have been far too consist on home turf for us to have a wager on them slipping up. Man Utd have already lost too much ground on Chelsea and they can ill-afford any more slip ups. A home win for us.

 

 

 

 

Match Odds:

 

Manchester United – 1.40 BlueSquare

Draw – 4.50 SkyBet

Everton – 9.50 Boylesports

 

 

 

SoccerBetting Value Tip: Manchester United to WIN to NIL – 2.38 888sport

 

 

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Full-Time: Manchester United 3-0 Everton

 

Goalscorer(s): Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick, Antonio Valencia (Manchester United)