Match Preview
Everton return to action for the first time since the Premier League docked them of 10 points as Manchester United come to a Goodison Park that is expected to be a bearpit of defiance for this televised Sunday clash.
The historic penalty handed out to the Toffees dropped them into the relegation zone but it appears to have galvanised both the team and the fans for a battle that both are confident the club can win.
Everton’s recent form under Sean Dyche means that they come into the weekend sitting one place off the bottom on goal difference above Burnley but also in the knowledge that victory over United could lift them immediately out of the relegation zone if results elsewhere go their way.
Protest will be in the air before and during the game as fans plan to unfurl huge banners and raise cards expressing anger at both the ruling by the independent commission and the Premier League.
Both home and opposition fans have proposed booing the League’s anthem and “fair play” handshake before kick-off and then singing a protest chant in the 10th minute of the match.
Dyche, meanwhile, spoke of a group of players ready to take on yet another challenge to preserve Everton’s top-flight status.
“The feeling was very positive in the sense of building on the mentality that’s been there lately,” the manager told the media at his press conference at Finch Farm. “We all spoke about that, saying this hasn’t changed it and it’s building regardless of this current situation.
“The players are clear-minded. They have their WhatsApp group and when the news broke they put it straight on there: ‘Right lads, just another challenge, this is how we take it on’. The group is taking ownership and that’s a powerful thing.
“I got from them the sense that, ‘What we’re building, we don’t let anything disrupt that and we don’t let anything get in the way’. You can’t guarantee it’s made a difference [to the players’ resolve] yet because we haven’t played any games. All I know is that the players know what we’re doing. They’ve referenced that to me probably for the last six weeks.”
On the field, Everton might be forced into at least one change from the side that started against Crystal Palace last time out, with Amadou Onana still undergoing treatment for a calf complaint that kept him out of international action over the last round of European Championship qualifying.
That could see the goalscoring hero from Selhurst Park, Idrissa Gueye, come back into the side but no other changes are expected.
United have been regarded as something of a crisis club themselves and while it’s all relative, their problems pale in comparison to Everton’s. Nevertheless, manager Erik Ten Hag, who will serve a touchline ban this weekend and will be forced to watch from the stands, is under immense pressure, despite the Red Devils sitting in 6th place coming into the weekend.
Since their home defeat to Palace at the end of September, United have only lost to neighbours Manchester City in the Premier League and remain a tough proposition regardless of form purely because of the talent in their ranks.
Striker Rasmus Hojlund will undergo a late fitness test along with midfielder Mason Mount but goalkeeper Andre Onana looks likely to be passed fit.
Luke Shaw ans Aaron Wan-Bissaka are doubts and will be assessed but it appears as though all of Casimero, Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez, Jonny Evans, Tyrell Malacia, Jadon Sancho and Amad Diallo have been ruled out.
Games against Manchester United have been great occasions for underdog Everton sides in the past or those feeling like their backs are against the wall and there is a feeling ahead of this one that it could be another memorable occasion.
Another febrile atmosphere, reminiscent of those blue smoke-filled, titanic efforts in key matches under the Grand Old Lady’s lights over the past couple of seasons, could be in the offing and provide Dyche’s much-improved team just the fuel they need to grab all three points.
“I couldn’t wait [for Sunday] anyway because obviously we are on a good run of form – forget about all this,” Dyche continued. “But I will be amazed if the Evertonians are not right on song. I’ll be very surprised if they are not, knowing what I do. I don’t know them yet but I am learning about Evertonians and how they commit to the club and the cause.
“I’m getting deeper in my knowledge of that and I’ll be very surprised if they are not right there with us. It doesn’t guarantee you’ll win but it gives you a better chance when they are right behind the players going: ‘Come on then, let’s take it on again’.
“I sense that the underbelly, the fans with the depth of knowledge about Everton who remember the hard-fought years and what it has been built upon – not every Evertonian just knows moneyed years – they remember when they had to fight and work to build a team and a mentality. I think they can sense it again. That’s what I think. I think they sense we are getting back to an earthiness, a determined Everton group of players who will really have a go.”
Kick-off: 4:30pm, Sunday 26 November, 2023
Referee: John Brooks
VAR: Chris Kavanagh
Last Time: Everton 1 – 2 Manchester United
Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Gueye, Garner, Harrison, McNeil, Doucouré, Calvert-Lewin