England Round 28

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Manchester United vs Everton Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Manchester United::
Onana; Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Lindelof; Casemiro, Mainoo; Antony, Fernandes, Garnacho; Rashford

Everton:
Pickford; Godfrey, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Harrison, Garner, Onana, McNeil; Doucoure; Calvert-Lewin

Manchester United will welcome Everton to Old Trafford on Saturday lunchtime. The reverse fixture between two sides at Goodison Park was a memorable game, not because of the result but for something else - Alejandro Garnacho scored arguably the goal of the season with a spectacular overhead kick. Just to mention, United won 3:0 in November and I am sure Erik ten Hag will like to see another convincing victory. after last week's disappointment in the city derby. As You probably know, the reigning champions won 3:1, despite the fact United scored first through Marcus Rashford and kept the lead until the 56th minute. That was the second consecutive loss for the Red Devils who also lost to Fulham previously. Ten Hag is under constant pressure, but so far managed to survive. The Dutchman has some additional issues as lot of players are injured. Six players are definitely sidelined - Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia, Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial, Mason Mount and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Two more are rated as doubtful, but the last news are optimistic and Rasmus Hojlund and Harry Maguire could recover in time for this match. Rashford and Jonny Evans have picked up knocks prior to the Manchester derby, but should play here.

Everton are on the 16th place with 25 points, five more than Luton Town, the first club in the drop zone. The Toffees are deeply involved into the relegation battle and the situation is complicate, particularly because they are in poor form. Everton are 10 matches without a win in the Premier League. If something is positive, that's the positive outcome of their appeal. The points deduction has been reduced from the initial punishment of 10 down to six with immediate effect. The news of the reduction came as a huge relief to Evertonians at a crucial time in the season. Of course, the situation is still complicate. Dyche has the majority of his players available, but Dele Alli and Arnaut Danjuma remain out injured. Idrissa Gueye, who missed the last weekend's game with a groin problem, is rated as doubtful. He will be assessed on Saturday. Andre Gomes and Lewis Dobbin have recovered from respective calf and ankle injuries to play some minutes in the last round. The duo are in contention to feature against Manchester United, although it seems Dyche will continue with Amadou Onana, Abdoulaye Doucoure and James Garner in the midfield. Ex-United player Ashley Young, should be reserve as Ben Godfrey is favorite to start as right-back. Dominic Calvert-Lewin will probably lead the line, but the problem is he is out of form.

Manchester United vs Everton Prediction:

Both teams are not in good form, however there is a big difference. While Everton are winless in the last 10 league matches, United have registered five victories in the same period. The home advantage is on Man United's side and this fact should not be underestimate. Finally, Everton key player Dominic Calvert-Lewin has not scored a Premier League goal since October 29. Rashford is also far from his best, but he scored a fantastic goal last week at Etihad. I expect a home victory here.

Manchester United vs Everton Pick: Manchester United to win @ 1.86 with Pinnacle

 

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Liverpool vs Manchester City Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Liverpool:
Kelleher; Bradley, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Endo, Mac Allister; Salah, Nunez, Diaz

Manchester City:
Ederson; Walker, Dias, Stones, Ake; Silva, Rodri, De Bruyne; Foden, Haaland, Alvarez

Liverpool and Manchester City will play the most important game this season, a game that could decide many things in the Premier League. At the same time it will be the last clash between two great managers in the Premier League, Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp and Manchester City's Pep Guardiola. Of course, they are nowhere near Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, but still, it is the rivalry that has defined the modern Premier League era. Klopp said on Friday that Guardiola had made him a better manager. Guardiola has said similar in the past. Both have said the challenge is invigorating. Klopp versus Guardiola is something like Ali versus Frazier, Senna versus Prost, Messi versus Ronaldo. But this time the duo have an "intruder" - Mikel Arteta. His Arsenal won against Brentford on Saturday and now sit on th top of the table.

Liverpool are playing a good season and the atmosphere in the squad is very good. Last weekend they beat Nottingham Forest 1:0 in the stoppage time. Darwin Nunez was the scorer of the winning goal. The Reds were also successful in Europa League on Thursday, when destroyed 5:1 Sparta Prague. The Reds almost secured a quarterfinal, but paid a big prize - Ibrahima Konate suffered a muscle injury and that's a big handicap for Klopp. The injury situation is complicate anyway and some of the youngsters played in the last period. Joel Matip, Ben Doak, Curtis Jones, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Stefan Bajcetic, Thiago Alcantara, Diogo Jota and Alisson Becker are definitely sidelined, as well as Ibrahima Konate. Ryan Gravenberch suffered a foot injury in the League Cup final and he is also unavailable.

Manchester City are heading into the derby full of confidence after five victories in a row. They beat Brentford, Bournemouth and Man United in the Premier League, FC Copenhagen in the Champions League and Luton Town in the FA Cup. The Citizens look very strong at the moment. But Guardiola and his players now need to beat their biggest rivals at Anfield. It is not easy to play at full Anfield, however City have a solid away record. Away from home in the Premier League this season, Man City have won nine times and taken 28 points from a possible 36. Guardiola’s side have won nine consecutive away games in all competitions, scoring 25 goals while conceding 10. Guardiola has the majority of his players available, but Jack Grealish sustained another groin injury and won't play in the derby. In addition, Jeremy Doku is rated as doubtful after the Belgian attacker complained of muscular problem.

Liverpool vs Manchester City Prediction:

Earlier this season the teams drew 1:1 at Etihad Stadium. Haaland opened the scoring and Alexander-Arnold equalized for Liverpool on 80 minutes. The Reds are first on the table, but they have a problem to win matches against "Big-6" teams. Klopp's men actually have a poor record in these showpiece occasions in their otherwise good 2023-24 campaign. They won just one of their 7 ‘big six’ outings so far this season. It was against (this season) poor Chelsea at Anfield. Manchester City are different level and I doubt Liverpool could upset the reigning champions. Even more as Klopp will be missing lot of important players.

Liverpool vs Manchester City Pick: Manchester City to win @ 2.25 with Everygame