Red Devils’ Renaissance Meets Toffees’ Fortress: United and Everton Duel for Premier League Glory
The Hill Dickinson Stadium hums with a peculiar tension, a Mersey mist rolling in off the waterfront as if carrying the ghosts of Goodison past. For David Moyes, it is a homecoming wrapped in complexities; for Michael Carrick, it is the next verse of a redemption song he is scripting in real-time. As the final fixture of the Premier League weekend descends upon Merseyside, it presents a delicious subplot: the league’s most in-form team against a squad desperate to turn their stunning new arena into a fortress rather than a mirage . This Monday night, footballing narratives collide.
Manchester United vs Everton
Date: 23 February 2026
Time: 8:00 pm GMT, 3:00 pm ET
Venue: Hill Dickinson Stadium
Current Form and Season Performance: The Phoenix and the Enigma
o understand the magnitude of this clash, one must first look at the radical transformation at Old Trafford. The season began in the shadow of Ruben Amorim’s tenure, a period that ended with a dismal 38.1% win rate and the club languishing in mediocrity . The dismissal of the Portuguese manager in early January felt like an inevitable conclusion to a cycle of underperformance.
Then came Michael Carrick.
Since taking the reins on a temporary basis—a role he has filled with stunning authority—Carrick has orchestrated a quiet revolution. Ditching the rigid structures of his predecessor for a fluid 4-2-3-1, he has instilled a counter-punching precision that has rocketed United into the top four . As of late February, no side in the division has bettered their haul of 15 Premier League points in the 2026 calendar year . The £74m summer signing Benjamin Sesko, who struggled for consistency, now looks a revelation, finding the net with regularity, including a crucial stoppage-time equalizer against West Ham to extend the unbeaten run to nine games.
However, a statistical chasm exists between United’s swagger at Old Trafford (2.08 points per game) and their vulnerability on their travels. Away from home, they boast just a 31% win rate and have failed to keep a single clean sheet on the road this season, conceding an average of 1.69 goals per game .
Conversely, Everton presents a riddle wrapped in a paradox. They sit comfortably in eighth place, a position that would have been unthinkable during their recent relegation scraps . Yet, their campaign has been a yoyo of emotions, defined by startling resilience away from home but a frustrating impotence at their state-of-the-art stadium. The Toffees have lost five of their last nine Premier League home games—as many as they had in their previous 28—and are winless in six across all competitions at Hill Dickinson . The 2-1 collapse against Bournemouth, where they surrendered a lead in eight minutes of chaos, epitomized their Jekyll-and-Hyde nature.
Head-to-Head Record: A History Drenched in Red
If history is any guide, the visitors have little reason to fear the Merseyside trip. The head-to-head record between these two founding members of the Premier League is heavily skewed in favor of the Red Devils.
In the Premier League era, Manchester United has secured 19 away wins and 42 total victories against Everton. Remarkably, this is more than any other team has managed against a single opponent in the competition’s history . The Red Devils have been Everton’s nemesis, a consistent source of frustration for the blue half of Merseyside.
However, the most recent chapter belongs to the Toffees. In a bizarre encounter at Old Trafford earlier this season, Everton rallied from an early Idrissa Gueye red card to win 1-0, courtesy of a Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall strike . That result was the nadir of the Amorim era. A win for Everton on Monday would grant them just their second-ever Premier League double over United, the first coming in 2013/14 when a certain David Moyes was in charge of the Red Devils . The irony is as rich as the history.
| Competition | Matches Played | Man Utd Wins | Draws | Everton Wins | Man Utd Goals | Everton Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall (All Comps) | 210+ | 91 | 45 | 74 | 328 | 278 |
| Premier League Era | 64 | 42 | 17 | 15 | 121 | 70 |
Comprehensive head-to-head showing United's historical dominance. (Source: Various}
Score Prediction: The Anatomy of a Draw?
Predicting this fixture requires weighing United’s historical dominance against their travel sickness, and Everton’s league standing against their home fragility. Alan Shearer, the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer, has already weighed in, predicting a share of the spoils, citing the hostile atmosphere and United's recent pattern of tight games .
The data supports a high-scoring, tense affair. United’s away games average a staggering 3.38 goals, with both teams finding the net in a remarkable 92% of their road trips . Everton, desperate to break their home duck, will likely deploy a low block, attempting to frustrate United and utilize the height advantage they possess over a relatively small United backline .
While the ghosts of comebacks past—like United’s 2-2 draw at Goodison earlier in the season—linger, this fixture feels different. Carrick’s men have the momentum and the historical edge, but Moyes knows how to organize a defense against his former employers.
Taking into account Everton’s dire need to please their home crowd, United’s porous away defense, and the sheer weight of history, the most likely outcome is a high-tension stalemate with goals.
Prediction: Everton 1 – 1 Manchester United
