Merseyside meets Manchester today as Everton welcome Manchester United to Goodison Park with both sides seeking a return to winning ways after back-to-back defeats.
The Toffees have seen their bright start to the campaign tail off in recent weeks, while Man United are languishing in 15th place following their joint-worst start to a campaign since 1986-87.
There were two elements of Manchester United’s 2020-21 season so far which offered hope to counteract the gloomy reality of their league position and form at Old Trafford – their Champions League results and their remarkable record on the road.
However, both of those were shattered on Wednesday night as they found themselves on the wrong end of Istanbul Basaksehir’s first ever Champions League win.
Indeed, the Turkish outfit’s first ever Champions League goal served as an example of one of the big question marks hanging over United at the moment, as former Chelsea striker Demba Ba was unfathomably left with a whole half to himself to break the deadlock after only 13 minutes.
The defensive disorganization which led to the type of goal which would infuriate even a Sunday league manager did nothing to quite the increasing criticism of a supposed lack of leadership at Old Trafford – criticism which grew in volume following last weekend’s meek 1-0 defeat to Arsenal.
That result not only left Man United with only one point from a possible 12 at home this term, it also left them with only seven points overall – their joint-lowest tally after six games of a Premier League season, level with David Moyes’ solitary campaign at the helm.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s position has inevitably come under scrutiny as a result, and the onus is undoubtedly on the manager to get to the bottom of how Man United can look so impressive in wins over Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig, but then so poor in defeats to the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Istanbul Basaksehir.
If the Red Devils’ away form dries up then it may only be a matter of time before Solskjaer is sent packing; the midweek defeat ended the longest away winning run in their history – 10 matches – and was their first defeat on the road in 19 games stretching all the way back to January.