Manchester United may still have 10 more games of the Premier League season to go but this one could arguably be one of the most pivotal. That is because should Jose Mourinho’s men lose further ground on the top four then the United boss may well then feel that chasing the Champions League through this route is not the top priority.
With United losing further ground on Saturday after a 0-0 draw at home to West Brom they now find themselves 5 points off of Manchester City albeit with a game in hand and 6 points off Liverpool although with two games in hand, therefore the race for fourth is still neatly poised.
But should they fail to make any serious inroads on those margins after facing off with Tonight’s opponents Everton then all of a sudden the thought of putting all the eggs into the Europa League basket starts to look like a more glamorous proposal.
It was another frustrating afternoon on Saturday as Tony Pulis’ men were well marshaled and manage to withstand any attacking threat that the home side offered. That attacking threat will be bolstered tonight by the return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic from suspension.
He sat out the last of his three game ban on Saturday and he will undoubtedly be a welcome boost for Jose Mourinho’s United side. In his absence, United have been relinquished their grip of the F.A Cup while also failing to get maximum points from their two league matches.
Their opponents Everton will no doubt be feeling sore after a Merseryside Derby defeat on Saturday Lunchtime. That loss to their nearest rivals all but killed off any outside chances of a late top four bid and they will know look to secure a Europa League place of their own next season.
It was once again derby disappointment for Ronald Koeman’s men as Liverpool managed to do the double over them in this campaign. After getting back into the game after going behind, Everton quickly found themselves trailing again and once behind for a second time failed to get a foothold in the game.
Divock Origi’s second half strike would wrap up the points and consign Everton to another derby defeat, one that will no doubt be tinged with a feeling of what could have been for The Toffees as many felt they really could have been the wildcard in the race for the top four.
That now no longer seems to be the case and they will look to put a dent in United’s aspirations, once again they will go into this game with the same injury concerns that they had at the weekend with Seamus Coleman, Ramiro Funes Mori and James McCarthy all out injured.
But Everton’s conveyor belt of young talent has been treating them well this campaign and Matthew Pennington was perfect proof of that again at the weekend. It was his goal on his first appearance of the season which drew Everton level and he looks set to start again this evening.
Both teams will be looking to bounce back from unwanted results at the weekend but who if anyone can do so, there was not much to choose from when these two sides met at Goodison Park earlier in the season with both teams sharing the points.
This time around though I think it will be a different story as United will certainly be fired up by the return of Ibrahimovic. I’ll go for a home win and Mourinho still weighing up whether or not to go all out to finish in the top four by the end of the season.