Manchester United's season has hit something of a roadblock in recent times, with a four-game streak without a win seeing them eliminated from the League Cup while also puncturing their hopes of putting distance between themselves and the contenders for the final Champions League spot.
Having fallen behind Chelsea into third place on Saturday due to their 0-0 draw with Southampton at Old Trafford, their New Year's Day trip to Everton takes on a new significance.
Jose Mourinho and his men will be hoping that they can start 2018 off on the right foot in order to draw a line under their poor run over the latter part of December.
MAN UTD INJURIES
The full verdict on Romelu Lukaku's head injury has yet to be delivered but the Belgian is likely to miss a couple of weeks of action after being stretchered off on Saturday following his clash of heads with Wesley Hoedt.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is out for another month after the gamble of rushing him back from ACL surgery failed quite spectacularly, the Swede finding it difficult to reach anything like game pace in either of his first-team starts.
Eric Bailly is out for the foreseeable future with a serious ankle injury sustained on international duty with Cote d'Ivoire which has resulted in the need for surgery, while Marouane Fellaini will still be unavailable due to a knee injury and Antonio Valencia is unlikely to recover from his hamstring problem in time to feature.
Michael Carrick will remain on the sidelines following a procedure to deal with an irregular heart rhythm, and Chris Smalling will likely still be out due to the muscle injury which has kept him out of the last two matches.
MAN UTD SUSPENSIONS
United will be without Ashley Young after the full-back accepted a charge of violent conduct following an elbow on Dusan Tadic during the draw with Southampton. The England international is banned for three matches, starting with Monday's visit to Goodison Park.
MAN UTD POTENTIAL STARTING LINE-UP
While Jose Mourinho will want to make a number of changes to cope with the 48-hour turnaround of fixtures, he is somewhat restricted due to the loss of the likes of Lukaku and Ibrahimovic through injury and the need to pick up three points and end their recent malaise.
Matteo Darmian and Daley Blind will fight it out for full-back spots with Young joining Valencia on the sidelines while Marcus Rashford is set to lead the line for the first time in the Premier League this season.
EVERTON TEAM NEWS
Everton's current fortunes couldn't be much different to what they were ahead of the reverse fixture at Old Trafford in September, with the arrival of Sam Allardyce in place of Ronald Koeman marking a significant turnaround in form.
With Reds legend Wayne Rooney firing, the Toffees have made a quick run up the table and find themselves in a comfortable position after 21 games.
Jonjoe Kenny and Mason Holgate have begun to make defensive positions their own, while Jordan Pickford has marshalled the back line well as he increases his claims to the England number-one jersey.
Saturday's loss to Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium was their first defeat under Allardyce, and the former England boss will back his troops to make things difficult for United.
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TV COVERAGE & KICK-OFF TIME
The match at Goodison Park kicks off at 17:30GMT on Monday, with live coverage available in the UK on Sky Sports Premier League.
In the US, watch the Premier League live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial)
BEST OPTA MATCH FACTS
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Everton have won four of their eight home league games against Manchester United in the 2010s (D2 L2), after winning just two of their 19 against them at Goodison Park in the 1990s and 2000s combined (W2 D3 L14).
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Should Manchester United win, they’ll set a record for most Premier League wins for a team against a specific opponent (currently 34, the same as Man Utd vs Aston Villa).
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Five of Man Utd’s last seven goals against Everton in all competitions have come in the final 10 minutes – including three in their 4-0 win at Old Trafford back in September.
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Manchester United haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last six Premier League away games – they last had a longer run without recording a shutout on the road in December 2013 (10 games).
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After winning two of his first three Premier League games against Man Utd, Sam Allardyce has won just one of his last 21 against them (D5 L15), though it was in his last such home meeting with them, while at Sunderland in February 2016.
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Jose Mourinho has lost none of his 11 Premier League meetings with Allardyce (W8 D3) – the manager he’s faced the most in the competition without losing, while likewise Mourinho is the manager Allardyce has faced the most without winning.
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Wayne Rooney has scored against 36 different clubs in the Premier League – only Frank Lampard (39), Andy Cole (38) and Alan Shearer (37) have scored against more in the competition. Man Utd are the team that Rooney has faced the most without a goal in the competition (5 apps).
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Rooney has been directly involved in eight goals in his last six top-flight games (six goals, two assists), after four goal involvements in his previous 11 this season (4 goals).
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Jordan Pickford has conceded just four goals in his last eight Premier League games, after shipping 28 in the 13 before that this season.
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