Everton have already seen off one Manchester United manager in recent years with a win at Goodison Park and now Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is facing the biggest game of his career against the Blues according to a high-profile pundit.
David Moyes, who of course was in charge of Everton himself for over 11 years between 2002-13, returned to Goodison Park on April 20, 2014 with his United side and suffered a 2-0 defeat.
The game is remembered for a spectator wearing a ‘Grim Reaper’ costume and waving a scythe in the beleaguered Scot’s direction during the game as goals from Leighton Baines – a player Moyes had tried to take with him to Old Trafford in a double deal alongside Marouane Fellaini only for Blues chiefs to describe the bid as “derisory and insulting” – and Kevin Mirallas secured Everton’s first league double over United for 44 years.
Despite signing a six-year deal as Sir Alex Ferguson’s replacement, Moyes was sacked just two days later.
Now, with United heading to Merseyside languishing 15th in the Premier League table and preparing to face Carlo Ancelotti’s side who have also lost their last two matches, Paul Merson believes their manager Solskjaer is facing a fixture that could potentially make or break his tenure.
He told Sky Sports : “I think Solskjaer will be under severe pressure.
“This is Manchester United, the biggest club in the world of football.
“Where they are in the league is not acceptable. It’s not like it’s just two or three games gone.
“The performances have been poor. The way they capitulated against Tottenham. Arsenal weren’t great the other day, they just did a job, and they (United) looked lost.
“Now they’ve gone here (losing 2-1 at Istanbul Basaksehir), they’re not a top European team and they’ve been beaten.
“I think it will be – if he gets to Saturday – his biggest game in management.”
The respective sides most-recent meeting was a 1-1 draw on March 1 when Dominic Calvert-Lewin's stoppage time 'winner' was ruled out by VAR for an offside against Gylfi Sigurdsson.
In what was the last game played in front of fans at Goodison Park before the coronavirus lockdown, Ancelotti was subsequently shown the red card by Manchester-born referee Chris Kavanagh for remonstrating with him on the pitch after the final whistle.
