38 replies to this topic

[ReDDevil9]

Everton Vs Manchester United

Barclays Premier League

20th August 2012

Goodison Park

KO - 20:00 BST

Man Utd Preview:
Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney up front makes for a mouth watering partnership, they netted 57 league goals between them last season, if they hit somewhere near their individual targets from last term, United are going to be a formidable force.

Fergie has a lot to think about with regards to injuries, particularly at the back. Nemanja Vidic managed a number of appearances during pre-season and should feature but Rio Ferdinand could miss out due to injury along with Chris Smalling (groin), Jonny Evans (ankle) and Phil Jones (back), so Michael Carrick may be forced to play centre-back.

United will still be strong, they were fantastic on the road last season, picking up thirteen wins, which help them amass the highest points tally by a side in season who failed to win the league. They played better last season than they had in the previous one and we should see a progression forward this time again. They will know the challenge before them in Manchester City and they won’t want to let their rivals get an early jump on them. United looked happy to grind out narrow away wins last season, they could be picking up three points on the road with more of a flourish this time around.

Everton Preview:
The Toffees held on to David Moyes in the summer, after he was being linked with the Tottenham job. So that was a big boost for the Goodison Park outfit, as he is the backbone of the entire club. As long as he is there you know what you are going to get from his side, hard work and the potential to score victories over the big guns. Everton finished really strongly last season and there was some good football being played from them. While they like to keep things tight in the middle of the park, there was still a good attacking flair from them.

Everton usually struggle for goals, but they found a real gem in Nikica Jelavic who looks a wonderfully accomplished striker. They have lost a big midfield injection through Tim Cahill who has departed, but they did bring back Steven Pienaar to cover the midfield area. The Toffees have already lost Jack Rodwell for around £12 million to Manchester City and while they intend to reinvest that money, it is not going to happen overnight. Moyes is supremely shrewd in the transfer market, but this is a tough opener. Their defence only averaged conceding just over a goal per game last season, they will need that tightness to keep United at bay on Monday.

[Not Twenty Forever]

de Gea

Rafael -- Carrick/ Berbatov   -- Vidic -- Evra

Valencia -- Scholes -- Kagawa -- Nani

Rooney -- RvP

Little worried about tonight’s result with our defensive line, Rafael can be a liability at times, Carrick out of position, Vidic hasn’t played a competitive game for 6 months and Evra who has gone from bad to worse over the past couple of seasons.. Looks like we'll have to adopt the 'if you score 5 we'll score 6' approach to tonights game.

[Bharadwaj]

I hope Evans is fit enough to play , he has been training but we don't know if he is back to game level .

If Carrick plays at the back we will see Scholes with Cleverley or Anderson . Nani and Valencia wide with Rooney partnered by either Kagawa or Welbeck or RVP if Fergie throws in a surprise .

[Silky Johnson]

Scholes and cleverley would scare me against evertons midfield, especially with fellaini in that more advanced role.

Everton never start the season well though so this could be a good chance to beat them in a fixture that's normally dodgy for us.

Edited by Silky Johnson, 20 August 2012 - 05:29 PM.

[Gilox]

Word seems to be that RVP will start, this will be the first United league game i watch in years if this is the case. Merely out of intrigue.

[francis]

Wow... you must be a real PL connaisseur if youve watched that many Utd league games over the years.

Silky Johnson, on 20 August 2012 - 05:28 PM, said:

Scholes and cleverley would scare me against evertons midfield, especially with fellaini in that more advanced role.

Everton never start the season well though so this could be a good chance to beat them in a fixture that's normally dodgy for us.

Read somewhere that Fellaini was due to miss this game.

[Goodison]

Everton XI

-----------------Howard--------------
Hibbert--Jagielka--Distin--Baines
------------Neville--Gibson---------
Osman-------Fellaini-------Pienaar
----------------Jelavic------------------

The exact team that we finished last season so strongly with. Be good to see a bit of solidarity at the club and try and continue the good form from last season.
Saw the united lineup but I'll leave it to you guys to decide exactly how they'll lineup, but to my untrained eye it looks like you have Carrick at Cb and Valencia at Rb.

[MancUnited]

De Gea; Valencia, Carrick, Vidic, Evra, Scholes, Cleverley, Nani; Kagawa; Rooney, Welbeck.

Subs: Lindegaard, Rafael, Wootton, Anderson, Berbatov, Young, Van Persie.

Antonio RB? Wow.

[Gilox]

francis, on 20 August 2012 - 06:18 PM, said:

Wow... you must be a real PL connaisseur if youve watched that many Utd league games over the years.

lol! . Tbh it's by far my least favourite league but here goes lol

[GZA]

Welbeck

Kagawa - Rooney - Nani

Cleverley - Scholes

Evra - Vidic - Carrick - Valencia

De Gea

?

Not sure if I like it.

[Squibo]

When the commentators claim Kagawa would have never experienced an atmosphere like this one you know the Premier League and their ever so biased commentary has returned.

Will be an interesting game this one. Tipping United to win 1-2.

[MancUnited]

Come on United! Let's start this season with big 3pts.!!!!

[DB3]

Robin van Bench

[Gilox]

Bit of a soft yellow card there no? . Or is that sort of thing given in the EPL?

[MancUnited]

Harsh yellow.

DB3, on 20 August 2012 - 07:03 PM, said:

Robin van Bench

He can sit on the bench for almost every game as long as he scores the winner against you Gunners!