After leaving St James’ Park deflated and depressed, Erik ten Hag got exactly the response he was looking for when Brentford came to town, as Manchester United quickly put their defeat to Newcastle United behind them with a narrow victory over the Bees.
Marcus Rashford’s half-volley into the goalkeeper’s arms was enough to separate the two teams, though the Red Devils were once again beholden to David de Gea, who made a crucial one-on-one save against Kevin Schade to deny the Bees a share of the spoils.
By quickly resuming their winning ways, Manchester United reclaimed their place in the Champions League, currently sitting fourth and level on points with Newcastle, who have a far superior goal difference, while Spurs are three points worse off despite having played one more game.
The Red Devils’ Champions League fate is thus firmly in their own hands as they keep pushing for success on three fronts – Sevilla take a Old Trafford trip for the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final next Thursday – and the Theatre of Dreams has served up plenty of excellent performances from Ten Hag’s men in recent memory.
Indeed, Man United have not lost in 23 consecutive home matches since a 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad in September – a run that contains 13 Premier League games without vanquishing at Old Trafford – and Ten Hag’s side can boast three clean sheets in their last three home games.
Even with 10 men on the field after Abdoulaye Doucoure unconscionably clawed Harry Kane in the face – who soon opened the scoring from 12 yards – Everton everytime glanced the much more probable winner of the game’s second goal against Cristian Stellini’s Tottenham, who had none of the new manager bounce.
The dismissal of Lucas Moura only six minutes after his emergence was exactly what Everton needed, as Michael Keane – who was on the receiving end of the Brazilian’s red card-worthy challenge – set loose a 90th-minute lightning bolt into the top corner after the Spurs defence just kept backing off.
Everton, who are bogged down in one of the most unforeseen Premier League relegation battles in recent memory, have yet to see a dramatic change in accumulated wealth on the road under Dyche, having gone 10 top-flight games without a victory and conceding at least twice in every one of their last five such games.
Team News- Manchester United
Man United’s central midfielder Casemiro will serve the fourth and final game of his domestic suspension this Saturday, but Ten Hag has been forced to hand an untimely concern in Luke Shaw, who came off with an evident hamstring problem in the first half against Brentford.
Shaw will be assessed further ahead of Saturday’s game, but the short turnaround makes it difficult to see the Englishman recovering quickly, while ankle victims Christian Eriksen, Alejandro Garnacho, and Tom Heaton remain out, as does former Toffees loanee Donny van de Beek (knee).
Team News- Everton
Andros Townsend, who scored in a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford last season, is expected to be out for a few weeks with a knee injury, while the unfortunate Dominic Calvert-Lewin is still out with a thigh injury. On a more positive note, left-back Ruben Vinagre should be accessible after missing the Tottenham game due to a tight Achilles.
In place of Doucoure, ex-Manchester United trainee James Garner could be considered for his first Premier League start of the season, but Dyche could be tempted to change formation, bringing in Vitaly Mykolenko on the left and revert back to a three-man central backline.
Predictions-
Manchester United 2-1 Everton
