Everton and relegation.
It doesn’t sound right, does it?
Bias aside, ‘The Toffees’ would be one of the first names in the idealised Premier League of almost everyone. Yet, at present, the nine-time first division victors are teetering on the edge of their first relegation since 1951.
The Premier League has never run without Everton. However, that could all change next season with Everton in a race with Burnley - and maybe Watford - to avoid the drop.
Everton are presently on the safe side of the relegation zone in 17th but are only one point clear of Sean Dyche's Burnley - renowned as expert escape artists - having lost 3-2 against them in midweek. On a further discouraging note, Frank Lampard's side have the worst record in Europe's top five leagues since the start of October having taken only 12 points in the period since.
The going is incredibly tough for Manchester United at the moment: seventh in the Premier League and extreme outsiders for a top four finish having won only once in six matches over all competitions, with a mere three victories in their last 11 outings.
But, not to undermine the blatant struggles, the situation at United is verging on luxurious comparative to Everton’s drastic financial and on-field woes. In their own respects, though, the two sides that will meet at Goodison Park on Saturday are no doubt in their own manners of turmoil and arguably the two least functional sides in the Premier League.
In hindsight, given his Liverpool connections, Rafa Benitez was never the right appointment for Everton. It never felt the correct route to venture down and was ultimately, as lots expected, a catastrophic failure as he found himself sacked by mid-January.
Albeit, Everton were level with United in fourth-place when they took a point from the sides' meeting at Old Trafford early in the season. Such a positive start renders the implosion even more mystifying, with the lack of a turnaround observed under Lampard during his first few months at the club reflecting badly on the players as well as pointing to his inexperience in a situation of such peril.
Everton have now lost 17 of their last 22 league matches, including six of Lampard's nine in charge.
United's own managerial switch shortly over a month before Everton sacked Benitez has been of a slightly greater degree of success - even if Ralf Rangnick's interim stint at the helm is hardly one to write home about. He has only overseen a pair of league defeats from his 16 matches in charge in the competition, though United have only won half of those matches.
If it wasn't for Rangnick's prospective board role (for which a contract has been agreed) in a position of particular expertise, his appointment would likely be rendered poor and his tenure a failure. After all, Saturday's meeting with Everton has been labelled a 'must win' by Rangnick just to ensure that United merely remain on the back foot in the race for top four as opposed to being entirely out of the running.
Damningly, United still haven't strung together a run of three wins across all competitions at any point this season.
United will be without Raphael Varane on Saturday, with it becoming apparent that he played through an injury sustained on international duty in last weekend's draw against Leicester City; the centre-back is yet to feature in more than three successive matches after his summer switch from Real Madrid.
Edinson Cavani also remains sidelined, whilst Scott McTominay has been ruled out due to an issue with the sole of his foot. Luke Shaw was withdrawn at half-time last weekend, with Rangnick confirming that "he's having problems with his leg where had his operation back in 2015" and will miss out this weekend.
"The doctor told me that they decided to remove that metal thing in his leg," Rangnick continued. "There are two bolts that need to be removed and this will happen tomorrow and that means he will be out for the next two or three weeks."
A boost has been offered in that Cristiano Ronaldo is poised to return to the fray having recovered from illness, with a hope that a sense of reinvigoration will be instilled after a tedious and fragmented display in his absence against Leicester.
Everton will likely be without defenders Yerry Mina and Nathan Patterson, with Tom Davies, Andre Gomes and Andros Townsend all set to be sidelined. Donny van de Beek is ineligible due to clauses within his loan deal from United, though he picked up an injury in the warmup prior to defeat against Burnley.
Everton have only beaten United once in 15 matches over all competitions, though United have only won once of the last six meetings in the league.
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