Man United vs. Everton
Venue: Old Trafford
Kick off: 4pm
Table-topping Manchester United will look to continue their unbeaten start to the Premier League season when they host Everton at Old Trafford on Sunday (today).
The match will see United’s record goalscorer, Wayne Rooney, return to his former club for the first time since his summer switch to the Toffees, and the ex-England skipper will be looking to help improve his new side’s fortunes following a disappointing start to the season.
There is sure to be a hero’s welcome for Rooney when he steps out onto the Old Trafford pitch again today as the United fans welcome back a player who scored a club-record 253 times in 559 appearances, in addition to lifting every piece of silverware available to him.
The 31-year-old’s time at the club came to what felt like a natural end during the summer, and while the fans will never forget his contributions during his 13-year stay, right now they will be focused on their newest striking superstar.
Romelu Lukaku moved in the opposite direction during the summer, and the Belgian has hit the ground running following his arrival from Goodison Park with six goals in as many appearances for the club.
It is safe to say that the 2017-18 season has not gone as planned so far for Ronald Koeman and Everton.
A summer of ambitious transfer activity which put them among the Premier League’s highest spenders raised expectations that the Toffees might be capable of challenging the top six this term, but instead they find themselves in the bottom five ahead of this weekend’s match.
It is still very early days in the Premier League season, of course, but the signs so far have been worrying for Everton fans.
Thursday’s display away to Atalanta was particularly disappointing, and even taking into account the quality of opposition his side face this weekend, Koeman will be demanding a reaction from his side.
Should the Toffees not produce a result at Old Trafford then they could end the weekend in the relegation zone, while their struggles in front of goal mean that only the league’s bottom two of Bournemouth and Crystal Palace – both of whom are yet to pick up a point this season – have scored fewer.
Man U possible XI: De Gea, Valencia, Bailly, Jones, Darmian, Matic, Fellaini, Mata, Mkhitaryan, Rashford, Lukaku.
Everton possible XI: Pickford, Keane, Williams, Jagielka, Holgate, Davies, Gueye, Schneiderlin, Baines, Sigurdsson, Rooney.