Sports Blog 04/04/2017: Premier League Preview – Manchester United vs Everton, Tuesday 4th April 2017

Will Jose Mourinho be forced to focus on the Europa League if Manchester United fail to beat Everton, at 8pm on BT Sport 1?

Following their 0-0 snoozefest against West Brom at the weekend – their 8th league draw at Old Trafford this season, and their 11th in total – Mourinho claimed that, if United aren’t successful in their next 2 fixtures, he may turn his attention towards winning Europe’s 2nd best club competition in order to secure a place in next season’s Champions League.



United currently sit in 5th place, 5 points behind Manchester City in 4th and 6 behind Liverpool in 3rd, but with 1 and 2 games in hand over their rivals respectively. So, by no means an insurmountable moat to cross BUT only if United stop throwing away points against ostensibly lesser sides.

At least the hosts will have Paul Pogba and, more importantly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic back in the team. The latter has missed the last few domestic fixtures thanks to suspension and, though he has been incredibly wasteful at times, United could do with the return of their Big Swede. On 26 goals in all competitions Ibrahimovic heads into Tuesday night with a Super Mega PGM spread of 55-63, with Marcus Rashford at 30-36 and Anthony Martial at 22-27.

Much like with Mourinho and Man United, there is an air of disappointment surrounding Ronald Koeman’s first season at Everton. Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Liverpool was probably the last nail in the coffin for the Toffees’ hopes of qualifying for Europe organically (with a bit of luck they could get other Europe League dependant on who wins the FA Cup, the final make-up of the league and/or Man United’s run in the competition). That doesn’t really leave Everton a lot else to do bar make sure they don’t slip any further away from the top 5.

Even Romelu Lukaku’s ascension to the Premier League’s top scorer with 21 goals (and 6 assists) is bittersweet, as it likely just confirms the Belgian international will be leaving at the end of the season. Nevertheless he still plays in blue for now, and sits at a Super Mega PGM of 18-22.

With Ibrahimovic back United should be a bit more prosperous going forwards, leading Spreadex to offer a Manchester United/Everton Goal Supremacy spread of 0.95-1.15 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.6-2.8.