Chris Sutton has made an interesting prediction ahead of Everton’s clash with Manchester United this weekend.
Writing for BBC Sport, the former striker has tipped the Toffees to seal a 2-1 win at Goodison Park and has urged Everton not to get ‘over-excited’.
Everton will host Manchester United in what will be their first match since receiving that hefty ten-point deduction last week.
Sean Dyche’s side were flying high off the back of six wins in nine games in all competitions and had risen up to 14th in the Premier League table, with the Bournemouth, Luton Town, Burnley and Sheffield United looking destined for a relegation scrap.
However, after being found guilty of breaching financial fair play rules, Everton were immediately docked points and now find themselves in 19th place, two points from safety.
While it is a worrying time for Everton, there is no doubt that they will come out ‘united’ and confident on Merseyside this weekend.
Meanwhile, Manchester United are quite the opposite. Despite winning four of their last five games in the top flight, the mood around Old Trafford is far from positive and they are likely to head to Merseyside rather concerned.
Chris Sutton expects Everton to take all three points on Sunday, but he has warned that the ‘powder keg’ atmosphere could work against them.
“Everton are in a relegation battle now, but I still think they will be good enough to stay up,” Sutton said.
“There is a lot of talk about how their points deduction will galvanise the whole club but I think there is a chance the occasion could suit Manchester United because there is going to be a powder keg atmosphere at Goodison Park on Sunday.
“There is the risk that Everton’s players could get over-excited, and they need to keep 11 players on the field.
“I am sure that will be the message from their manager Sean Dyche too and, if they manage that, Everton have a very good chance of winning this game. Their recent form has been very good.
“Results-wise, Manchester United have been doing better than anyone, with four wins in their past five league games, but if you have seen them play this season you will know they have mostly been awful.
“I have got a sneaky feeling they will benefit from all the fervour around Everton at the moment and somehow find a way of winning this game too, but I believe in fairytales, which is why I am going with an Everton victory.
“Goodison will be absolutely bouncing if I am right.”
Can Everton remove themselves from the relegation battle already?
Despite Everton’s place in the Premier League table and their poor form against Manchester United that has seen them win only two of their last 19 meetings, I imagine there are very few people that actually think the visitors will get the win this weekend.
Sean Dyche‘s side will have been raring to go ever since they found out about that point deduction, and they could even force their way out of the relegation scrap already.
While it would be very difficult for Everton to close the gap between themselves and 15th place (eight points), there is no reason why they can’t make the difference between them and the other four relegation threatened teams even bigger.
A win against the Red Devils already takes the Toffees out of the bottom three, and if they keep up their recent form then they could be way ahead of the rest going into the new year.
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