Manchester United return to Premier League action tomorrow afternoon when hosting Everton at Old Trafford in a 1.30 pm kick-off.
The Reds enter the clash in 12th place but are only three points away from Tottenham Hotspur in sixth and six points adrift of Chelsea in fourth.
Meanwhile, Everton – despite their turbulent start – currently sit outside the relegation zone in 15th, having overseen two wins, five draws and five losses in their opening 12 matches. They are on the back of two straight goalless stalemates against West Ham and Brentford, respectively, before which they were narrowly defeated 1-0 at the hands of Southampton.
On the other hand, Ruben Amorim remains unbeaten in his first two matches as United’s head coach. Last Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town was far from the ideal result in his maiden outing in the dugout, though the side did follow it up with an improved – albeit still rocky – showing in Thursday’s 3-2 win over Bodø/Glimt.
Paul Merson expects Amorim to claim first PL win this weekend in United vs Everton
Paul Merson has shared his predictions for matchweek 13 in the Premier League and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the ex-Arsenal man voiced early concerns over Amorim. Luckily, he has the backing of those who matter most: the 70,000+ fans inside Old Trafford every other week.
Merson is convinced the home side will be made to work for what he believes will be a 2-0 victory, although he wouldn’t be shocked if the Toffees were able to graft for a result in their favour.
“Nothing changed for Manchester United last week, in my opinion,” he penned in his Sportskeeda column. “Ipswich were by far the better team! I think even Ruben Amorim was shocked by what happened. If they don’t start winning games, Amorim will have to start answering a lot more questions, whether he likes it or not. That is just how big this club is and how the Premier League is, in a nutshell.
“I’m not entirely convinced about Manchester United’s new system under Amorim. After a point in that game, you would’ve thought Ipswich were the bigger club and not United – that’s how it went. You could say everyone was away on international duty, and he did not have enough time. But if that performance were against one of the big boys in the league, Manchester United would have been destroyed by four or five goals!
“Everton are a team who have a special X-factor in them. They always have that one fixture every season when they just spring to life and surprise us. I’m going for a United win, but I can’t help but admit that I have a sneak feeling about Everton.”