Man Utd v Everton

Although Manchester United are edging ever closer to a record 19th league title, they aren’t winning matches at a canter. In the past week they haven’t been winning matches full stop. A 1-0 defeat in the FA Cup semi final to bitter rivals City was followed by a 0-0 draw at St James’ Park on Tuesday night. United’s last two league games at Old Trafford have yielded a 2-0 win over Fulham and 1-0 triumph against Bolton after an 88th minute strike. What all this tells me is that goals are likely to be at a premium as nerves fray at this delicate point of the season.

Everton are not the sort of side to let the floodgates suddenly open against them. Their recent form is excellent, they have a six game unbeaten run to protect on Saturday afternoon. They have shown they can compete against the top sides having beaten Chelsea and Man Utd last season, drawn with the Red Devils again this campaign and knocked Ancelotti’s side out of the Cup at Stamford Bridge. On that latter occasion a 0-0 draw in 90 minutes ultimately led to penalty shoot-out success. A goal-less draw isn’t out of the question here but a Man Utd 1-0 win certainly can’t be discounted. With Cahill and Arteta possibly set to return for the Toffees, even a major upset can’t be ruled out completely.

Rather than trying to guess exactly how this one will pan out, I will instead stake my wager on this being a very tight affair. StanJames offer us 10/3 on there being no more than one goal in the game and that represents excellent value.