United’s dismal display bodes well for City’s assets ahead of derby

Everton’s 4-0 pummelling of Manchester United is the focus of our latest Scout Notes piece.

Those Fantasy managers investing in the Red Devils’ players would have been left bitterly disappointed by their Double Gameweek 35 opener, with Lucas Digne and Gylfi Sigurdsson registering more FPL points on their own than the entire United squad combined.

We round up the goals, assists, injury updates, manager quotes and key Fantasy stats from Sunday’s lunchtime kick-off.

Everton 4-0 Manchester United

• Goals: Richarlison (£6.4m), Gylfi Sigurdsson (£7.3m), Lucas Digne (£5.3m), Theo Walcott (£5.9m)
• Assists: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.4m), Idrissa Gana Gueye (£4.7m), Gylfi Sigurdsson

Manchester United’s abject performance in their defeat to Everton on Sunday would have offered plenty of encouragement to their cross-city rivals and those Fantasy managers who own the likes of Sergio Aguero (£11.8m) and Raheem Sterling (£11.6m).

The Manchester derby takes place on Wednesday evening and United go into that fixture on a run of six defeats in their last eight competitive matches and without a clean sheet since their goalless draw with Liverpool in February.

United and Watford are the only two Premier League sides without a shut-out in the last eight Gameweeks.

While there will surely be a reaction to this dismal display at Old Trafford in midweek, the Red Devils looked disjointed and disillusioned on Merseyside on Sunday as Everton deservedly ran out 4-0 winners.

Ole Gunnar Solksjaer described his side’s display as unacceptable, also saying that his squad’s fitness was an issue:

We have got to apologise to the fans because they were absolutely fantastic. That performance was not good enough for a Manchester United team, all the way from me to the players.

We know we let the fans down, let the club down today. That performance is difficult to describe because it was so bad. They beat us on all the basics.

We were beaten on all the ingredients that you need, added to your talent, today. As I said last week, as well, there is no place you can hide on the pitch. It was 85 minutes before we got a strike on target, which is not good enough. We know that.

Our fitness is nowhere near good enough. I can’t wait to get a pre-season done. We’ve been fantastic to get to where we are.

Maybe it’s caught up with us and we all know that, to win games of football, [you need] basics and fitness has nothing to do with talent.

If you want to play for this club, it’s got to mean more. I’ve said it as well, I want my team to be the hardest-working team in the league, that’s what we were under Sir Alex. 

United’s ropey-looking backline will particularly give owners of City’s assets optimism, with David de Gea‘s (£5.7m) hit-and-miss form continuing at Goodison Park.

The Spanish goalkeeper let a Lionel Messi shot squirm under his body at the Nou Camp last Tuesday and he looked flat-footed for Everton’s second goal on Sunday, with Gylfi Sigurdsson‘s (£7.3m) well-hit effort from distance seemingly catching him unawares.

The United custodian was very nearly caught out by an inswinging Sigurdsson corner in the second half, too, but recovered well to volley the ball off his own goalline.

Not that de Gea was helped out by his team-mates – Nemanja Matic (£5.0m) allowing Sigurdsson to bypass him all too easily for the Icelandic midfielder’s strike and the makeshift back four in front of him frequently looking vulnerable whenever the Toffees attacked.

Richarlison (£6.4m) had two efforts in quick succession before he opened the scoring on 13 minutes, with the Red Devils struggling to deal with a Lucas Digne (£5.3m) long throw and Diogo Dalot (£5.3m) shirking out of a block on the Brazilian’s brilliantly executed bicycle kick.

Dalot was dreadful at left-back – along with several of his teammates – although United will be boosted by the return of Luke Shaw (£5.0m) on Wednesday evening.

Solksjaer was critical of his team’s defending for all four goals, saying:

They beat us on all the basics. Long throw-in, stick your head in [1-0]. Our own corner-kick, they counter-attack [2-0]. Their corner, they’re first to the ball [3-0]. The fourth one as well, there’s many chances to get rid of the ball, stick your head in again.

Solskjaer’s side offered precious little going the other way, registering just two penalty box touches in the first half and not managing a single shot on target until the 85th minute – a tame Anthony Martial (£7.2m) effort from distance being comfortably collected by Jordan Pickford (£4.9m).

Martial, Romelu Lukaku (£10.8m) and Marcus Rashford (£7.4m) were totally ineffective in a front three (Rashford being deployed on the right flank), while Paul Pogba (£8.7m) was a long way short of his all-action best as he leisurely strolled around midfield.

The presentable chances that did fall United’s way were all carved out by the Frenchman, however.

Pogba set Rashford, Martial and Matic up with clever passes for opportunities that were fired wide, before teeing up Martial for United’s only shot on target.

Having played in deeper roles in recent weeks, including in a double-pivot alongside Fred (£5.3m) against West Ham United in Gameweek 34, Pogba started off as the most advanced player in a midfield three as Solksjaer lined his side up in a 4-3-3 formation.

He regressed to a deeper position as the game wore on, though, particularly after Scott McTominay (£4.2m) was thrown on at half-time.

Pogba touched the ball only once in the Everton box and didn’t manage a single shot, which means he has now gone eight league games without a goal from open play.

All credit to Everton, however, who – last week’s defeat to Fulham aside – are in fine form and who have made a habit of frustrating “big six” sides in recent months.

United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have come away from Goodison Park without scoring over the last seven Gameweeks, while only Manchester City (nine) have recorded more clean sheets than the Toffees (eight) in 2019.

Everton now sit fourth in the Premier League form table when teams are filtered by their last eight matches.

Richarlison and Sigurdsson, each sold by over 100,000 FPL managers ahead of Gameweek 35, both scored their 13th league goals of 2018/19, with Sigurdsson also providing the assist for Theo Walcott‘s (£5.9m) breakaway fourth goal.

The Icelandic international didn’t touch the ball once in the visitors’ area but hasn’t overly relied on proximity to the goal this season: 24 midfielders have had more touches in the opposition box but only four have scored more goals.

No player on show at Goodison Park on Sunday created more chances than Sigurdsson, either.

Richarlison was prominent in the United area and had six shots in the first half alone but is now an injury concern for Gameweek 36 having been substituted just after the break with what appears to be a rib injury.

Silva said of the Brazilian winger’s condition:

Let’s see how he will be. Our medical staff, I didn’t speak with them already. Painful in this moment. Let’s see if he has to do an exam to see what’s happened.

Tomorrow, in two days, we will know better about the situation. Hope nothing special but when Richarlison has to be out of one match, that means he is a really difficult position.

Digne also hobbled off towards the end of the match but Silva seemed less concerned about his French left-back, adding:

About Lucas, I think it is nothing special.

Digne registered his fourth goal of the season (his first of 2019) with a superb half-volley from outside the United box and, on top of his set-piece deliveries and crosses from open play, has added a panic-inducing long throw to his armoury.

It was from Digne’s throw-in that Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.4m) flicked the ball on for Richarlison to open the scoring.

Reflecting on his side’s impressive display, Silva said:

Very good performance. We were the best team on the pitch since the first minute. Good goals also, good moments of football. Solid team without the ball.

Even with the early goal we scored, we keep pressing them high. We never gave them the chance to feel comfortable. We give a quiet afternoon for our goalkeeper. We worked as a team since the first minute and scored nice goals also.

Elsewhere on the injury front, Phil Jones (£5.1m) was substituted with a reported problem at half-time. There was no word on the defender’s condition after the game, however.

Everton XI (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Coleman, Keane, Zouma, Digne (Jagielka 84′); Schneiderlin, Gueye (McCarthy 76′); Richarlison (Walcott 51′), Sigurdsson, Bernard; Calvert-Lewin.

Manchester United XI (4-3-3): De Gea; Dalot, Smalling, Jones (Young 46′), Lindelof; Matic, Fred (McTominay’), Pogba; Rashford (Pereira 77′), Lukaku, Martial.