As the season officially gets under way this weekend, we, the fans look forward to another exciting and potentially drama filled season ahead, and it all begins with a trip to Goodison Park.
The clash against Everton would see Shinji Kagawa making his first Premier League appearance and Robin van Persie making his debut in the Red of Manchester United. As a goal scoring midfielder, Kagawa will bring creativity and flair to the squad, and promises to be the signing of the season for United. Ferguson also snapped up last season’s Golden Boot winner Robin van Persie for a bargain, much to the dismay of the Arsenal supporters. The signing of van Persie was a show of intent which said that United are ready to reclaim the Premier League from their noisy neighbours. The prospect of seeing van Persie and Rooney line-up together for the fixture is a mouth-watering treat to all United fans. Having scored 57 Premier League goals between them, the fans will be expecting a goal fest this Monday.
The wealth of attacking options at Ferguson’s disposal will create a selection dilemma. One that Ferguson would surely welcome. But it is once again the injury to the back-line that he would have looked to avoid. Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Johnny Evans will be out for the foreseeable future. It was a welcome sight to see the return of United skipper Nemanja Vidic to the heart of defence alongside Rio Ferdinand. Tom Cleverley having missed most of last season through injury, will also be available for selection. Darren Fletcher has also returned and made an appearance in a benefit match against Aberdeen, but Ferguson will remain cautious in his approach over Fletcher’s fitness concerns.
LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 22: Robin van Persie of Arsenal in action during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester United at Emirates Stadium on January 22, 2012 in London, England.
Having to speculate the possible formation for the upcoming fixture is surely no easy task. With van Persie most likely to make his Manchester United debut in the fixture, one could say that he would be lining up alongside Wayne Rooney in a 4-4-1-1 traditional approach with Rooney playing in the hole behind him and Kagawa playing out wide on the left-hand side, making room for Carrick and Scholes in the middle of the park. United’s new #7 Antonio Valencia will be expected to occupy the right wing where he can do most damage. The back four will be pretty straight forward keeping in mind the injuries sustained by Smalling, Jones and Evans. Vidic will marshall the troops along with Ferdinand and Evra and Rafael will support them on either side. De Gea will be expected to keep in goal having grown by leaps and bounds after his first season in England’s top-flight. United will hope to hit the ground running in their opening fixture and aim to go one better than they did last season.
Everton, on the other hand, had a slow start to the 2011-12 season having won just 3 of their opening 10 games, but ended the season strongly in 7th place, having gone on a nine-game unbeaten run at the end. The fact that David Moyes led Everton to finish above Liverpool hasn’t gone unnoticed. Much of this was due to the contribution of winter signing Nikica Jelavic who scored 9 goals in 13 games for the Toffees and ended the season as their top scorer.
Everton’s summer signing, Steven Naismith is expected to make his first competitive debut against Manchester United. The former Rangers man arrived at Goodison Park on a free transfer and is well known in the Scottish Premier League. Naismith’s key attribute is his versatility, though he started as a striker he has been used across the midfield to good effect. The fixture will also see the return of Steven Pienaar as full time Everton player having been sold by Tottenham this summer. This summer also saw the departure of Jack Rodwell to Manchester City and fan favourite Tim Cahill to New York Red Bulls. Everton currently have all squad players fit and ready for action.
BLACKPOOL, ENGLAND – AUGUST 05: Steven Naismith of Everton in action during the Pre-season Friendly match between Blackpool and Everton at Bloomfield Road on August 5, 2012 in Blackpool, England.
David Moyes is expected to play a 4-4-1-1 formation with Jelavic playing upfront and Osman off him. Pienaar will occupy his role on the left wing and Naismith is set to make his debut on the opposite flank. Gibson, a former United player is set to partner Fellaini in the middle of the park. The defence will feature the centre back pairing of Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin. Leighton Baines will play on the left and Tony Hibbert on the right of the defence. Howard will stand between the posts and have the hard job of keeping the fearsome looking United attack out. The Toffees will look to avoid defeat at their home ground and avoid starting the season as they did previously.
Looking back at the fixtures from last season, Manchester United had a narrow 0-1 win at Goodison Park with Javier Hernandez scoring in the 19th minute. The reverse fixture was another story. The fans saw an open, free-scoring game as Everton battled from 4-2 down to finish the game all square at 4-4 at the Theatre of Dreams. Nikica Jelavic scored a brace in that game and will be a constant threat to the United goal. A stat to note is that Wayne Rooney has scored 5 times in the last 7 opening season games for United. Will he be United’s first scorer of the 2012-13 campaign or will new recruits van Persie and Kagawa beat him to it?
Probable Line Up:
Everton: #24 Howard; #2 Hibbert, #6 Jagielka, #15 Distin, #3 Baines; #14 Naismith, #25 Fellaini, #4 Gibson, #22 Pienaar; #21 Osman; #7 Jelavic
Manchester United: #1 De Gea; #21 Rafael, #5 Ferdinand, #15 Vidic, #3 Evra; #7 Valencia, #22 Scholes, #16 Carrick, #26 Kagawa; #10 Rooney; #20 v. Persie
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