Mourinho: Goodison Park is beautiful

Manchester United’s Jose Mourinho had some nice things to say about Sunday opponents Everton in his pre-match press conference. The Portuguese manager was last at the stadium in September 2015 with Chelsea, who were coolly dispatched back to London by a Steven Naismith hat-trick.

"I managed against Martinez's Everton, Moyes' Everton and it is always difficult.

"Goodison Park is beautiful. It is a great crowd and a great stadium which is historical for my country as Eusebio scored four goals in one match there during the World Cup in '66.

“I had so many great matches there. Some I lost, some I won, but always a great match. The way United is playing, combined with the way Everton always try to play means it should be a very good match."

United are surging again after beating West Ham United 4-1 in the quarter finals of the EFL Cup midweek. The Red Devils will now take on Hull City in a two-legged semi-final in January.

There has been plenty of transfer chatter around some fringe players in the United side as regards to Everton. Manager Ronald Koeman invoked Mourinho’s ire in discussing his interest in Memphis Depay.

Koeman also refused to talk about Morgan Schneiderlin, his former player at Southampton, in his pre-match media briefing for that reason.

At the transfer deadline there were strong indications that the Blues had been chasing Juan Mata before he became a fixture in Mou’s squad. Recently there has also been conversation that Bastian Schweinstiger and Henrikh Mkhitaryan might be looking for January exits from Old Trafford as well.