Manchester United kick off 2018 with a trip to Goodison Park to face Everton, looking to arrest a slide that has seen them slip to third in the Premier League table.
Draws against Leicester, Burnley and Southampton have seen José Mourinho’s side fall a point behind Chelsea in the pecking order and the ire of many pundits and fans has turned on the Portuguese, with the performances being far from positive.
And it will not be an easy task to take three points away from the Toffees, who, despite their 2-1 reverse to Bournemouth in their final game of 2017, have undergone something of a resurgence under new manager Sam Allardyce.
Everton had not lost under Allardyce since he took charge in late November until their last encounter and with confidence restored in the blue half of Merseyside, United will certainly face a battle if they want to come away with all three points to start the year off on a positive note.
It was a whole different story when these two sides faced off at the start of the season at Old Trafford, as the Reds ran riot after Antonio Valencia’s early screamer, scoring three goals in the final ten minutes to come away 4-0 winners.
Here’s our predicted eleven for the visit to Goodison Park tomorrow:
GK - David de Gea
First name on the team sheet.
RB - Victor Lindelof
With Ashley Young now confirmed to be suspended for three matches after being charged with violent conduct against Southampton, odds are Lindelöf will be shifted to right-back, with Antonio Valencia still out with a hamstring injury.
CB - Phil Jones
First-choice centre-back when fit. He should start again tomorrow afternoon.
CB - Marcos Rojo
Lindelöf’s expected move to right-back means the Argentinian will get a reprieve for his shocking performance against Burnley.
LB - Luke Shaw
One of United’s better performers against Southampton, the left-back should keep his place.
CM - Nemanja Matic
Although you sense the tiredness in the Serbian’s performances, Mourinho has little alternative but to start him with the lack of depth in central midfield.
CM - Paul Pogba
Another name on the team sheet that is assured of a starting place, whatever the game.
RM - Juan Mata
The Spaniard’s lively contributions in recent outings means he should keep his place.
CAM - Jesse Lingard
The academy product continues to be in fine form and as of now, should be one of the first names included on the team sheet.
LM - Anthony Martial
Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s poor performance against Burnley almost assures the Frenchman of a return to the starting eleven.
ST - Marcus Rashford
Rashford has looked out-of-sorts recently, but with Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic both injured, he will be tasked with leading the line against Everton.