Manchester United vs Everton preview – can Romelu Lukaku end his goal drought against his former club?

Manchester United are currently in 10th place in the Premier League table with an abysmal goal difference of -1. Can they turn things around against Marco Silva’s impressive Everton side?

I’m tired, Robbie.

If you had told me last season that Manchester United would be battling it out in mid-table with the likes of Watford, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and indeed, Everton this time next season I would have laughed in your face.

Back then, we were 2nd in the league, had beaten every team in the Premier League at least once, and were playing much better football than the previous season, when we finished 6th.

And yet, we were still disappointed with our performances, as we thought we should be doing a lot better to challenge Manchester City for the title.

Oh, how things change.

Although it looked like we were beginning to turn things around when we almost clinched a 2-1 victory against Chelsea last week (before Ross Barkley annoyingly equalised for the Blues) we went on to lose 1-0 to Juventus at home in the Champions League only days later – ruining our momentum.

Can the players bounce back when they face Everton on Sunday? Let’s find out…

Players must not repeat the mistakes of the first half vs Newcastle United

Although we did go on to win 3-2, we cannot ignore how poor we were in the first half of our last home game in the Premier League. Newcastle United outplayed us for 45 minutes on our own turf, scoring two goals in 10 minutes.

Should something similar happen on Sunday, I’m not confident that we’ll be able to mount another phenomenal comeback for the second time in a row. Mourinho must ensure that we are solid defensively right from the get-go if we are to earn a comfortable victory against Everton.

Romelu Lukaku must start scoring goals again – and his teammates should help him

The Belgium international has been frustrating to watch for quite a few games now. Although he does have four league goals so far this season, they all came near at the beginning. Now that we’re struggling to find wins, Lukaku must step up and be the number 9 United need in their time of crisis.

However, his goal drought cannot solely be blamed on himself, as his teammates should also be held accountable for not creating enough chances for their centre-forward. Players like Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba should stop being selfish and start putting more balls in the box for the Lukaku.

Is there anyone in this Everton side United should be wary of?

Everton have a surprisingly large amount of players to choose from in their robust squad, thanks to good recruitment by their board and a number of loan players from top clubs.

Everton, on the other hand, have many solid options at centre-half. Former Manchester United man Michael Keane, Kurt Zouma (on loan from Chelsea), Yerry Mina and Lucas Digne (both on loan from Barcelona) are just some of the defenders who would feature on Sunday. Our forwards could have a difficult game ahead of them if they’re not careful…

What the manager had to say before the game

In a pre-match press conference, Jose Mourinho was asked whether he thinks Romelu Lukaku will end his goal drought against Everton. He replied:

"“I always feel this game is the game. I feel that every game. One day, it will be and one day [Lukaku] will score and, I’m sorry, and one day his confidence level will be back to normal which clearly they are not there, but I always feel that every game is the game.” [manutd.com]"

"“In this moment he’s struggling, because he’s injured and because he come to the Chelsea match to try to help the team, but his physical condition was not good and then he had to stop and he was not available for Juventus and he is not available for tomorrow again. So now the point is to be physically in the best conditions. I think he’s the kind of player that needs to be really sharp to play his best game.” [manutd.com]"

The Portuguese also took the time to complain about injuries sustained in the squad during the recent international break:

"“We played against Newcastle and we go to the national team period in a good situation and then after two weeks we lost Dalot in Portugal, we lost Fellaini in Belgium, we lost Alexis with Chile, we lost who else? McTominay with Scotland.” [manutd.com]"

It’s disappointing to see Mourinho deflect the blame yet again by suggesting that a few injuries to minor squad players are the reason why we’ve been so poor this season. Let’s hope he’s just protecting himself and his payers, and that we’ll actually see a much better Manchester United on Sunday.

Do you think Lukaku will end his goal drought on Sunday? Will Martial continue his fine form? What do you think the final score will be? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Catch Manchester United vs Everton on Sunday 28th October at 16:00.