Manchester United and Everton go head to head in the Premier League on Saturday as the Toffees visit Old Trafford in the seventh game week of the Premier League. Both teams sit on the same points on the table and this battle will be to see who finishes this weekend into the top four of the league.
Manchester United had a brilliant start to the season and also performed well since the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo in their lineup. But their last few games have been disappointing for them in all competitions. Manchester United have lost three of their last five games in all competitions. They lost their opening group stage game against Young Boys in the Champions League, got knocked out of the EFL Cup and also lost to Aston Villa last weekend.
United have had defensive worries as they have found it difficult to deal with set-pieces this season. Manchester United will be without their captain Harry Maguire and left-back Luke Shaw, as both players were substituted in their last game against Aston Villa. This will be a major concern for Ole and his team. Victor Lindelof will be coming in to replace Maguire, while Luke Shaw’s seriousness of the injury is yet to be disclosed.
The above visual shows us the shot map for Mason Greenwood against Aston Villa last week. Greenwood attempted the most number of shots for Manchester United and was able to get into great positions to score a goal. But he lacked the clinical finishing that was required and was not able to convert with the shots he attempted.
Everton bounced back from a 3-0 loss against Aston Villa to beat Norwich City in a game that was dominated easily by the Toffees. Rafa Benitez’s men have had a great start to the season as they have won four of their six matches and have 13 points.
Everton players had a high xT from the passes and dribbles that they attempted and were able to create a number of opportunities throughout the game. Everton have had a couple of players who have been very impressive since the start of the season like Doucoure, Gray and Calvert-Lewin. But there has been one player who has been outstanding in most of the games they gave played and that is Andros Townsend. As seen in the above visual, Townsend had the highest xT from the passes he attempted and also had a good enough xT from his dribbles.
The above visual shows us his pass map from the Norwich game. The left-footed player has been playing on the right flank for Everton and has successfully been able to cut in and either take a shot or cross the ball into the penalty box. We can see that he played three passes into the box from the right flank and all three passes had a high xT and troubled the Norwich defence. He also scored their opening goal in the game. He will have a high impact on this game against United.
This game against Manchester United is a very important one for Everton as this is their chance to enter the top four on the table. Manchester United have been shaky in the last couple of weeks and will look to shake it off as they will be in search of their fifth win of the season.
