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Game to watch: Everton v Manchester United
The third and fourth ranked Premier League teams meet at Goodison Park on Wednesday with both flying.
Everton have beaten Chelsea, Leicester and Arsenal in their last three games, while United are breaking records with their away form.
That streak of 10 Premier League wins on the road includes a win at Goodison Park earlier this season, when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was holding on to his job. Both coaches are sitting quite comfortably in their seats this time, but it could be argued that one team needs victory more than the other this week.
Everton need a trophy. Either will do. Carlo Ancelotti has done a lot of good in his year at Goodison, but the next step is silverware.
It’s been a quarter of a century since the Toffees last tasted triumph in any competition (9,348 days to be precise) and that drought is largely the reason they turned to Ancelotti, a trophy hunter with major honors in five different countries.
Everton’s carefree approach to domestic cups under Ancelotti’s predecessors has been a source of frustration for fans, but the Toffees are now deep enough in the competition to reassess their priorities.
For Solskjaer too, this represents an opportunity to go one step further. The Manchester United manager is one game away from another semi-final and a chance to atone for the last three four outings of last season.
To do that, Solskjaer will have to do more than just show up, which is pretty much all it took to outsmart Marcelo Bielsa on the weekend. Everton were delighted to sit back and let Arsenal have the ball on Saturday and they will be just as stubborn in defending their position on Wednesday, especially after sending three to United last month.
The Carabao Cup may be seen as the least desirable of national honors, but no coach left in the competition will yearn for it more than the series winner in charge of the potless Toffees or the trophy-less leader of one of the few clubs to do so. has won everything.
READ MORE: Five reasons why Man Utd will win the Premier League
Team to watch – Newcastle
Newcastle’s trophy drought lasts longer than Everton’s. It’s been 51 years since the Magpies won more than the Intertoto Cup.
In fact, it’s been 15 years since they reached a national semifinal and Steve Bruce has delivered on his promise to take cup competitions seriously. The victory over Brentford on Tuesday night would represent a tangible step forward at a time when many Newcastle fans are struggling to see progress with Bruce.
A Covid outbreak certainly hasn’t helped matters, but his recent performances in Leeds and Fulham have done little to ease the perennial pressure. The Bees will not be willing to please the Magpies boss either, as Thomas Frank’s side has not lost any of its last 13 in the Championship.
Brentford is also looking for his fourth League Cup Premier League scalp this season, having sent Southampton, West Brom and Fulham packing. His biggest threat also has a pending account with Newcastle. Ivan Toney failed to pass the grade at St James’ Park before being sold to Peterborough. But the forward is moving back up the ladder after scoring 16 goals in 20 Championship appearances since the Bees drafted him to replace Ollie Watkins in the summer.
Player to watch: Stoke’s goalkeeper
Stoke’s goalkeeping department is to the bone ahead of Tottenham’s visit with José Mourinho looking to give these Spurs players a taste of cutlery in one of their favorite competitions.
The only thing for sure on Wednesday is that Michael O’Neill will hand someone a debut. Andy Lonergan, who received the title winner medal with Liverpool last season, could play his first senior match since being on loan at Rochdale in 2019 if he recovers in time from the flu.
Otherwise, 19-year-old Cameroonian prospect Blondy Nna Noukeu could get the gloves for his bow from Stoke. Noukeu’s big shot could come with Joe Bursik tied for the cup plus Adam Davies, Angus Gunn, Niki Maenpaa and Nathan Broome, all injured.
Manager to follow – Mikel Arteta
The Arsenal manager tried to blind us all with numbers on Monday morning with what was presumably a pre-planned statement since the question posed was a simple inquiry into morale in his dressing room.
Numbers don’t lie and spell disaster for you at Sacrifice. https://t.co/M64dEilDFF
– IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) December 21, 2020
The only number that really matters for Arsenal right now is two – the number of points they have won in their last seven Premier League games. But Tuesday offers a respite from the usual routine, although Arteta might have preferred to divert a meeting with Manchester City when the quarter-final draw took place.
Arteta made more sense when he spoke of the mindset he wanted to see in his players in the face of City’s challenge. “Usually when [a poor run] It happens that you have two types of people: fighters and victims. You need fighters and you don’t want victims. “
After a year on the job, Arteta knows who his victims are, and will be acutely aware that he doesn’t have enough fighters, especially with his captain still with a calf strain. Injuries and his terrible form will likely see Arteta go strong in a game for which he may have reserved more of his fringe players, but the manager has to do something, anything, to stop his current momentum before Chelsea gets to. the Emirates on Boxing Day.
Arteta has already faced Pep Guardiola once this season, when neither team really took the lead at the Etihad. Guardiola, facing City’s mini-knockdown at the time, was unusually willing to concede possession, especially after scoring what turned out to be the only goal of the match in the first half. Everton did a similar number at Arsenal over the weekend, and Arteta has to find a way to make his attack as deceptive as his math.
Football League Match To Watch – Doncaster v Shrewsbury
Few elections in the EFL this week. Sunderland was due to host Blackpool on Tuesday before Covid acted as the d * ck. That postponement leaves only two games. In League Two, Bradford, without a manager and fourth from the bottom, can overtake Grimsby, who is ranked 19th, by winning their Blundell Park clash on Tuesday.
If you don’t feel like paying to pass on that particular numbness, could you be interested in room opposite room from bottom in League One, with Doncaster hosting Shrewsbury?
Okay, a simple “no” would have been enough.
European match to watch: Real Sociedad – Atlético de Madrid
It’s the first third away in La Liga on Tuesday night, and both teams need the points with the sinister Real Madrid form …
Zinedine Zidane’s men have won five on rebounds in all competitions and kept pace with the Atlético leader over the weekend when the Sociedad failed to win for the fifth consecutive time in La Liga.
The hosts need a win here to prevent the Madrid teams from disappearing into the distance. The defeat would leave them six points behind Atlético, having played three more games than Diego Simeone’s team.
Simeone was delighted to see Luis Suárez return to scoring form at the weekend. Obviously more than Diego Costa …
Diego Costa on Luis Suárez “He wasn’t scoring, the bastard … now I’m back and scoring twice!” https://t.co/jrTV7yEx8K
– The Spanish soccer podcast (@tsf_podcast) December 19, 2020
Ian Watson
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