MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku has been dropped for Everton's visit to Old Trafford.
Lukaku has not scored for his club since Sept. 15 and manager Jose Mourinho has taken the decision to leave him out of the team to face his former club.
Mourinho admitted after the defeat to Juventus that Lukaku is short of confidence after going eight games without a goal for United -- his longest barren run since leaving Everton in a £75 million deal in 2017.
With the 25-year-old left out the bench, Mourinho picked a front three of Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.
Lukaku scored 27 goals in 51 games in his first season at Old Trafford but has found the net just four times in 13 appearances so far this term.
His club form is in stark contrast to his record for Belgium.
In 14 games for his country in 2018 he has scored 14 goals including five in four games this season.
At his prematch news conference on Friday, Mourinho said he has got striker problems.
"Well, against Juventus to give him [Lukaku] a break, I don't think [Michael] Carrick can play as a striker," Mourinho said. "Or we play with the players that we did or we decide to give a rest to Lukaku, then [Marcus] Rashford, who plays as a winger?
"We are not in the best moment to try to think about resting players or try to find solutions.
"The solution is to use the players we have. One day he will score and one day his confidence levels will be back to normal, which clearly they are not [at the moment] but I always feel that."