Manchester United vs Everton Prediction: Amorim’s men can lift the trophy

Manchester United should lift the Premier League Summer Series trophy on Saturday night (22:00) when they play Everton. The match takes place at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Georgia following Bournemouth vs West Ham United. Sky Sports Premier League will screen the Stateside double-header live.

Here are my Manchester United vs Everton predictions as the Red Devils close out their US tour.

Team News

Despite being linked with Benjamin Sesko, Ollie Watkins, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Slash from Guns N’ Roses and the starting lineup of the 1990s Chicago Bulls this week, Bryan Mbeumo is set to be the only new face in the United squad. The summer buy from Brentford is in line to make his unofficial bow for the 20-time Premier League champions as they close out their Summer Series campaign.

Elements of the United side still feel fresh of course. Fellow summer buy Mateus Cunha sat out the Bournemouth game so it feels like he is likely to feature from the start. Luke Shaw has been a welcome sight for United at the back after injuries limited him to just seven league matches last season.

Andre Onana and Lisandro Martinez are still out with longer-term complaints, but Harry Maguire is back from his knock. Joshua Zirkzee and Noussair Mazraoui remain doubts.

Unless United lose here they should take home the cup, with its iconic “silver cereal bowl resting on a tiny replica of the Europa League trophy” aesthetic. Ruben Amorim’s men have a four-goal advantage over both West Ham and Bournemouth meaning even if they do taste defeat, quite a swing is needed. A draw will be enough to lift the trophy in all its “Uefa but make it Kellogg’s” glory.

Football Odds

James Tarkowski returned from three months on the sidelines in Everton’s previous game against West Ham United. The ex-Burnley defender saw 20 minutes of action and could be in line for a bigger role tonight.

Seven of the same players started both Everton’s Summer Series games. Perhaps given their record of two defeats, David Moyes will shuffle his deck a little more deeply. One goal in two goals suggests perhaps those changes could come up top. 

Beto has led the line in both games. Thierno Barry arrived from Villarreal for a reported £27m over the summer. Eleven goals in 35 La Liga outings last season suggests the 22-year-old could bring the requisite firepower. 

Manchester United vs Everton Odds

The Old Trafford club are unsurprisingly the favourites, their 3/5 price reflecting Everton’s struggles in this competition as readily as it does their own supremacy. The Toffees are priced at 18/5 for the victory, giving them an 21.5% implied chance. The draw is priced at 11/2.

Manchester United to win to nil @ 15/8

Only one game out of four in this tournament so far has ended with a victory to nil. That was Bournemouth’s 3-0 win over Everton. We have already covered the attacking woes suffered by Moyes’ men and I expect that profligacy in front of goal to continue. 

United have looked reasonable going forward in America, a stark contrast to the team that failed to score in 14 of their 38 league games last season. These are friendlies and no concrete conclusions can be drawn for their long-term prospects. But I do think they will have more than enough firepower to win this one.

Rasmus Hojlund to score anytime @ 7/4

Firepower has not been a word spoken often about Hojlund in recent times. After a promising return of 10 goals in 30 league outings in his first season, that figure plummeted to four from 32 in his second campaign. While Hojlund technically out-performed his first-season European output six-to-five this season, those five goals in his debut campaign came in just six games. This past season, the former Atalanta man needed 15 games to reach his total.

The problem with Hojlund is simple to diagnose and I do not even believe it stems from him. He arrived at Old Trafford as a kid. The sort that, even in recent years, would have been nurtured with someone like Edinson Cavani, Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku or Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the team ahead of him. But instead, a youngster with one season of senior football under his belt was defined by his £75m price tag and responsibility of carrying an anvil-heavy mantle.

However, Hojlund has looked bright this pre-season. Sure, he had a viral miss but that just shows that the United number nine jersey is a cauldron unlike any other apart from perhaps their own number seven shirt. But Hojlund took his opener in the 4-1 drubbing of Bournemouth well. 

I can see him replicating that in a squad where the other options up front are either even younger than him (Chido Obi), an injury doubt who looks more comfortable at number 10 (Joshua Zirkzee) or not a striker (Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo for some reason).

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