Next Sunday, 5th of October 2014, an unstable Manchester United will entertain Roberto Martinez’s Everton at the beautiful Old Trafford for round seven of the English Premier League on a match that the Red Devils need to win in order to bring some stability and extra confidence to the team.

Although far from brilliant, United’s performance against West Ham brought them some peace of mind since it granted them their second win in three matches. The Red Devils’ start at the English Premier League is far from being impressive and the criticism surrounding Louis Van Gaal is beginning to see the light of day. The Dutch manager arrived at Old Trafford as a hero but some pundits and supporters have started to already transform him into a villain.

The defeat against Leicester two weeks ago opened some more breaches into an already leaky team structure and another hypothetical defeat at the hands of Everton next Sunday might crack United’s already fragile carapace for good.

On the match against West Ham, United experienced some difficulties especially after Sahko’s goal and Rooney’s red card. The Red Devils started the clash at full speed but after the first 30 minutes the team was somehow affected by a sudden numbness that almost cost them the three points.

For the important clash against Everton, Louis Van Gaal will not be able to rely on the contribution of Wayne Rooney, who was sent off against the Hammers, and on Carrick, Fellaini, Lingard, Smalling, Jones and Evans, all sidelined due to injury.

As for Everton, their season start has also been far from brilliant as the team only managed to win one of their six Premier League matches. Last season’s Everton is nowhere to be seen and, so far, Roberto Martinez is yet to manage to take the best out of his team like he did last season. Last weekend’s draw at Anfield Road will certainly bring no peace of mind to supporters, who still remember the defeats against Crystal Palace for the Premier League and against Swansea for the Capital One Cup.

Before taking on Manchester United next Sunday, Everton will have a fairly long and complicated journey to Russia to face Krasnodar for the UEFA Europa League and a defeat in that match would certainly inflict another huge blow to the team’s already frail confidence levels.

The last time both sides met at Old Trafford, the visitors won by 1-0 thanks to a goal by Bryan Oviedo in the dying moments of the match. With both teams far from their best, it is hard to name a favourite for next Sunday’s match, although, by playing at home, United enjoy from a share deal of favouritism.

Manchester United

Stats: W-2 L-2 D-1

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Everton

Stats: W-2 L-2 D-1

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Possible Line-ups

Manchester United (4-4-2 Diamond) – De Gea - Rafael - Rojo  - McNair - Shaw - Blind - Herrera - Di Maria - Mata - Van Persie - Falcao

Everton (4-3-3) – Howard - Hibbert - Stones - Jagielka - Baines - Barry - Besic - McCarthy - Mirallas - Naismith - Lukaku

Prediction

Manchester United 2 Everton 0