Constructing a new Man United team from front to back is more pressing than an Old Trafford rebuild… with Erik ten Hag riding his luck as Everton rack up the shots, writes CHRIS WHEELER

Andy Burnham rose from his seat and turned the tables by asking a question to his inquisitors.

“So,” said the mayor of Greater Manchester and avid Everton fan. “Any predictions?”

Burnham had just completed his day’s job of selling the dream of a brand new Old Trafford and was about to start the weekend by watching his team from the director’s box of the old stadium.

The honest answer is that you can predict very little about Manchester United these days.

Still, the stats suggested two things were likely to happen once Burnham took his seat here alongside the other VIPs.

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Firstly, United would beat Everton. It had happened 40 times before in the Premier League, and victory No. 41 – thanks to first-half penalties from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford – set a new record between two clubs in the competition.

Secondly, United would be faced with an excessive number of shots on target.

It has been a worrying trend this season, one that shows no signs of changing with 10 league games remaining – even against one of the Premier League’s lowest scorers.

And so Everton accepted an invitation to take shots at Andre Onana’s goal, beating United 23-15 in a rather strange encounter.

They became the fifth team in six league games to reach the 20s against United, who have now scored 467 tries this season at an average of 16.68 per game. Only West Ham and Sheffield United have a worse record.

The highest tally was 34 in December at Anfield, in a match that somehow ended goalless against Liverpool, who might not be so wasteful in next weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford.

The conversation with Erik ten Hag then turned to expected goals, the most curious of the modern statistics known as xG, and what he believed was the low quality of Everton’s chances.

“If you see their xG is not that high and ours is much higher,” said the United manager. “We have players who feel comfortable defending down low.”

It is true that United’s record of 39 goals conceded is as good as that of any club outside the top four. But then again, they’ve only scored 39, and a team limited in attack can only afford to be so generous in defense.

This cannot be the way forward. The intention was for Ten Hag to make United a team that can control matches and not ride their luck in this way.

That’s why he goes into the final stage of the season with little margin for error if he wants to qualify for the Champions League, which could be so important for his job prospects.

On a day when Burnham extolled the benefits of building a new Old Trafford, United again demonstrated why there is a more pressing need to build a team from front to back that doesn’t give up as many chances.

This win was as much down to Everton’s attack as it was United’s defence.

Onana saved from Ben Godfrey, James Garner and Abdoulaye Doucoure. Dwight McNeil shot narrowly wide twice. Lewis Dobbin should have scored.

Sean Dyche wondered how Everton didn’t do that. ‘I’ve never had so many chances here, never had so much possession, never dominated the front third of the pitch so often – 45 clear entries into the penalty area. Those are tough statistics,” the Everton manager said.

United’s goals came from two breakaways. Alejandro Garnacho, who dazzled Everton with a season-opening goal at Goodison Park in November, was also the standout player here.

Garnacho drew careless errors and penalties from James Tarkowski and then Godfrey, allowing Fernandes and Rashford to convert from the spot.

‘Two escapes that we didn’t deal with. In that respect, we have shot ourselves in the foot,” said Dyche, who is once again facing a nerve-wracking relegation battle after a winless series of eleven league games.