Long break ahead of United clash helps Everton’s Senegalese duo | OneFootball

Everton’s Senegalese stars, Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gana Gueye, are expected to benefit from the long break ahead of the clash against Manchester United.

Ndiaye and Gueye will get nearly two weeks’ rest to rejuvenate their batteries after accumulating a lot of minutes in recent months. While both have been regulars for David Moyes in the Premier League, they also led Senegal to Africa Cup of Nations triumph earlier this year and haven’t had a proper rest since returning from Morocco.

“Hopefully they’ve now got themselves back into the speed of the Premier League,” David Moyes said in the pre-match press conference at Finch Farm.

"I thought both of them had started to pick up in the last game, they both started to show they were getting back to what I thought the speed of the Premier League is and the intensity of what is required here.”

Idrissa Gana Gueye, of course, grabbed the limelight following a controversial sending off at Old Trafford in the previous fixture between the two sides earlier this season. Gueye slapped his own teammate, Michael Keane, before receiving a straight red and had to serve a three-game ban.

Everton, however, led by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s fantastic strike pulled off a fantastic 1-0 win in Manchester and will be hoping to complete the double on Monday.

"Seems a long time ago but it was a huge 3 points because you have to try to pick up wins when you can and it didn't look likely as we went down to 10 men. We got a really good goal that night and did really well to hang on to it,” Moyes added.

Reader Comments (6)

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Whatever anyone feels about Moyes, it was still a very spirited performance and a massive win, Annika.

Tom Bowers 4 Posted 20/02/2026 at 22:28:23

Man Utd are playing better since Everton beat them but I still think a lot depends on how Bruno Fernandes dictates the game.

Our home record is what scares me and we cannot be sure of beating anyone these days on our own turf.

A lot has been said about Gana, who is not the player he was, and I still think he is a weak link on the defensive end of the midfield.

Moyes should forget about a European place (he won't, of course) and concentrate on giving some of the bench warmers more starting time in readiness for next season.

Fernandes seems to love playing against Everton, Tom. The only time it hasn't looked like he was enjoying himself was in the game at Goodison when we were winning 2-0 last season.

He was rattled and didn't look like he was enjoying playing against a very aggressive Everton team that day. But we ran out of steam and suddenly him and Maguire were both back playing and suddenly had enough energy to start refereeing the game as well. But before this happened, it definitely looked like he didn't have the stomach for the fight.

The key to Everton turning Bramley-Moore Dock into a fierce ground that nobody really enjoys coming to is getting the team playing aggressively and on the front foot whenever it's possible.