Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
The final of the five Premier League fixtures on offer today takes us to Goodison Park as Jose Mourinho brings his Manchester United side to the usually hostile venue looking to bring an end to this unwanted streak of draws which currently is three games deep.
Sam Allardyce finally tasted defeat for the first time as Everton boss last Saturday with his side being beaten by Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium, and he will look to bounce back from the relative upset as he looks to frustrate an old adversary.
It was a rare off day for Everton last weekend, something that we were yet to see under the helm of the former one time England boss but with top scorer Wayne Rooney only coming in the second half it was fair to say that the Toffees came unstuck in attack.
The two matches prior to that their lack of attacking endeavour was somewhat covered by the fact that they were rigid at the back as Everton had to make do with successive 0-0 draws against both Chelsea at home and West Brom away. If the Chelsea point was a good one then the West Brom one highlighted the need for attacking reinforcement.
Something that may well be coming in the way of Cenk Tosun of Besiktas who now with the transfer window open could well be just days away from a move to Goodison Park. However today’s fixture comes around too quickly for any new forward to feature so instead we may well have to make do with the interesting sub plot of Wayne Rooney going up against his former employers.
We will however be denied the fact that both Wayne Rooney and Romelu Lukaku will being going up against their former clubs due to the fact that the Belgian international Lukaku misses out due to be stretchered off against Southampton early on due to a clash of heads.
And it was perhaps his lack of presence for the full ninety minutes that stopped Manchester United from picking up a first win in three league matches as they were held to another frustrating draw, this time around it was Southampton who thwarted Jose Mourinho’s men.
Not only is it a failure to win any of their past three league matches but it now also means for the first time season, the Manchester duo have been split at the top of the table with Chelsea moving into second place thanks to their 5-0 win over Stoke earlier that same day.
If United are not careful they may well be dragged into an even more intense battle for the Champions League places, it looked as if the top three clubs would carve up a trio of berths for themselves leaving three clubs to fight over fourth place.
But with Liverpool’s current form and the belief that Tottenham will only get stronger in the second half of the season, we could well be looking a four horse race for two Champions League slots come the end of the campaign especially as Arsenal cannot be ruled out either.
It has been a frustrating period for United as of late and you could say since the Manchester derby they have not quite been the same, they certainly have lost that early season swagger when they were rolling over teams with relative ease.
Whether that is something to do with the fitness of Paul Pogba who has looked indifferent at times since his hamstring injury especially with reports that he is not giving his all in training since his return can be argued or we could perhaps be seeing the beginning of the latest Mourinho boom/bust cycle.
Quite simply United need a win this evening but Goodison Park does not automatically mean all three points, they will have to fight for it especially against an Everton outfit looking to bounce back but I think their run of draws will finally come to an end. An away win for me.
