Manchester United are in great form and at home they are especially strong. They have won their last 7 home matches in all competitions and 6 of these were by at least a 2 goal margin. Their squad depth is also much better now, Wan-Bissaka, Maguire and Van de Beek started in their 3-0 win against Bournemouth but they still put in a dominant performance. Morale in the Manchester United camp is also strong, Rashford reacted well when he was benched due to disciplinary reasons and other players are stepping up to the plate.

On the other hand, Everton are in awful form, they have won just 1 of their last 11 matches and are 6 away matches without a win. In those 6 matches, they have lost 3 of them by at least 2 goals and I expect a loss by at least a 2 goal margin again in this match. Even in their 1-1 draw with Manchester City recently, the xG score was 1.7-0.1 and Demarai Gray’s goal came from 1 of just 2 shots they had in the whole match. Manchester United should be good enough to win this match and if Manchester United only hold a 1 goal lead Everton will push forward to equalise, leaving further space for Manchester United to counter and score a 2nd.

Manchester United have averaged 5.29 shots on target per 90 this season and at Old Trafford they have only failed to have at least 5 shots on target 2 times in their matches against domestic opposition. Teams facing Everton average 5.22 shots on target per 90 and in their last 9 away matches, only 2 times has the opposition failed to have at least 5 shots on target. With Manchester United expected to dominate the match I can’t see anything but plenty of shots on target for the inform Manchester United. Everton concede a huge 1.67 xG per 90 which shows the quality of chances they are conceding, therefore Manchester United should be good enough to have at least 5 shots on target in this match.

No team allows more corners per 90 than Everton with a league high of 6.89 against per match. In away matches this season, only Bournemouth have failed to have at least 5 corners against them and against top six teams in away matches they have conceded an average of 7.33 corners per match. Manchester United may only win an average of 4.47 corners per match but over their last 10 home matches they have averaged 7.3 corners per match. Knowing it is a knockout match, Everton will sat back looking to soak up pressure hoping a goal out of nowhere for them could be enough and this will see Manchester United have plenty of possession which they can win lots of corners on. Over 4.5 corners looks like a good bet in this game so that is my 2nd selection for this match.

Manchester United are the third highest foulers per 90 in the league this season and even in recent games where they have had more control of matches they have had high foul numbers. Against Bournemouth they committed 13 fouls, against Wolves it was 11 and against Forest it was 13. Everton are pretty average for numbers of times fouled a match with an average of 10.4 times fouled per match and against top six teams they are fouled more often. Against Manchester City it was 13, against Spurs it was 12 and in the League game against Manchester United they were fouled 13 times.

Demarai Gray is fouled 1.56 times per 90 as per the Cheat Sheet and has been one of Everton’s best players this season and his recent goal against Manchester City was very impressive. With Everton likely playing on the counter attack he will have plenty of opportunities to run at his opposition full back on the counter and will draw fouls. Diogo Dalot has now returned after the World Cup and is expected to be brought back in for this match and with a but of time off he could be a little rusty. Dalot commits 1.14 fouls per 90 and expected to be in a tough match here, I expect him to commit a foul in this match.