After they returned to winning ways with an ultimately comfortable 2-0 win over Norwich City last weekend, Everton face their biggest test of the season so far; Manchester United away.
It’s been a very solid start to the new Premier League campaign with four wins, a draw and one defeat at Aston Villa for Everton.
The Toffees have been playing some fine football too, creating plenty of chances and scoring more goals than any other team apart from West Ham, league leaders Liverpool and this Saturday’s opponents Manchester United, with whom they are level on points.
This approach has been a bit of a surprise as the combination of Rafa Benitez’s reputation for pragmatic and defensive football and his lack of spending this summer, might have been expected to lead to a more cautious and safety-first attitude.
However, the side has been playing with an terrific attacking verve and energy and both the Blues two forward signings Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray have been outstanding netting five times between them in the Premier League.
And the manager has also been getting much more offensive productivity out of other players, particularly midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure who’s scored twice already this season.
On the downside, Everton have conceded a fair few goals due to individual mistakes and defensive reshuffling and and their lack of investment in new talent has been exposed with Seamus Coleman’s injury and the failure once again to sign a right-back.
At the moment there is no new additional updates on the Toffees current injured list with the Blues still missing both main forwards Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison as well as Coleman and midfielders Fabian Delph, Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Andre Gomes.
Assuming none of these players are fit, this means that Benitez will have little room for manouvre when it comes to picking his team for the clash with United and so we’re very likely to see the same side that faced the Canaries.
As for United, they have had a big summer in the transfer market bringing in several outstanding players, including of course the summer’s big headline-grabbing signing, the return to Old Trafford of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese superstar has already scored three goals and will of course represent a huge threat to Everton’s inconsistent defence on Saturday.
But the Red Devils have plenty of other attacking talent to hurt the Toffees. Most especially Ronaldo’s fellow Portuguese international team-mate Bruno Fernandes.
He has a nasty habit, shared with too many other Premier League players, of scoring against Everton and would be a good bet to do so again on Saturday.
However, he did miss the penalty last weekend that condemed United to their first defeat in the league this season after they had missed a slew of chances in the game.
Fernandes and United will be desperate to get back to winning ways and keep their push for the Champions League on track and in the current verison of that competition they did win this week beating Valencia.
So, can the Blues put a spanner in the works and get something from Saturday’s game?
History would say no as Everton have a terrible record at Old Trafford having only won twice there in the entire time of the Premier League era!
The last victory was way back in 2013 in Roberto Martinez’s first season in charge. Could there be a repeat as the Toffees have another Spanish coach in his debut campaign at Goodison Park?
In all probability Everton will need to be at their best on Saturday to get something from the match and they can’t afford any lapses in defence, something that has already proved costly this season.
And it goes without saying thet they must take any chances they have as well as perhaps riding their luck a little as Villa did. I think there will be goals, which seems a fair bet and a draw is probably the most the Blues will get, but I hope I am proved wrong.