Carrick Keeps Faith as Unbeaten Everton Host High-Flying United

Everton's perfect home defensive record faced its stiffest test on 6 September as Manchester United arrived at Hill Dickinson Stadium unbeaten themselves, with Michael Carrick naming an unchanged side for the 2pm kick-off (The Guardian).

Carrick had reason to trust the team that dismantled Ipswich 5-2 the week before — United's first big win under his management. The same starting XI took to the pitch at Goodison's successor ground, and the team sheet carried a few talking points of its own.

Matheus Cunha was deployed as a false nine — a striker who drops deep rather than playing on the last defender's shoulder — while Marcus Rashford made a second successive start, wearing the number 9 shirt but operating from the left flank. Benjamin Sesko, whose goal settled this fixture for United back in February, watched from the bench.

Everton, meanwhile, were forced into one change. Ilian Ndiaye had moved to Manchester City, opening the door for Brennan Johnson to step into the starting XI. Otherwise, manager Sean Dyche's side kept faith with the eleven that drew at Bournemouth the weekend before (The Guardian).

The context gave the afternoon real edge. Everton had not conceded a single goal at home in the 2026-27 season before this match, having opened with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace and followed it with that clean sheet on the south coast. They sat unbeaten in the campaign. United, too, arrived in form — a 2-0 win at Hull City on the opening weekend had been backed up by the five-goal demolition of Ipswich (Premier League).

These two clubs have recent history that added spice to the occasion. Ten-man Everton won 1-0 at Old Trafford in November 2025, ending United's four-match home winning streak. Then in February, Sesko's goal settled the reverse fixture 1-0 in United's favour — a match remembered for James Tarkowski's goal-line clearance after Amad's shot squirmed beneath the goalkeeper (manutd.com).

Everton's squad also featured Jack Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, giving Dyche options from the bench if his side's defensive wall came under sustained pressure.

What makes this fixture compelling is the collision of two early-season stories heading in promising directions. Everton's home fortress — zero goals conceded — up against a United attack that had just put five past Ipswich. Carrick's decision not to tinker tells its own tale: a manager who has found something he likes and is unwilling to disrupt it, even on the road against a side that had not been breached at home.

For United fans, seeing Rashford back in the number 9 shirt, starting games regularly, carries a weight that goes beyond tactics. For Everton supporters, the arrival of Johnson in place of the departed Ndiaye offered a first glimpse of how their attack recalibrates without one of its bright lights of the opening weeks.

The Premier League season is only a few weeks old, but matches like this — unbeaten against in-form, a fortress tested by firepower — are the ones that tell you whether early promise has staying power.