Old Trafford will be the centre of attention when Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur face each other in the Premier League round 21. The Red Devils aim to keep their Champions League hopes alive and I think that they will go all guns blazing at Spurs....CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
Keep in mind, though, that all Sofyan Amrabat, Amad Diallo, and Andre Onana are on international duty but Onana will play his last before leaving for Cameroon camp, while the likes of Harry Maguire, Mason Mount, and Casemiro miss out with injuries. Denmark striker Rasmus Hojlund is back to contention.
The capital club, on the other hand, will be without trio Yves Bissouma, Heung-Min Son and Pape Sarr in Sunday’s showdown, which is probably the main reason why I think that Erik ten Hag’s troops will get over Spurs.
To make things even more difficult for the away team, all Cristian Romero, James Maddison, Ivan Perisic, and Alfie Whiteman are out of contention through injuries. Brazil forward Richarlison is widely expected to lead the line for the visiting team.
Manchester United put in a solid performance at Wigan Athletic last time out but it will take a lot more than a scrappy win over a League One side to restore faith in a side that sit eighth in the Premier League and with very few good showings so far this season.
The Red Devils have won just three of their last ten in all competitions and their last five Premier League outings have yielded a meagre four points. They could be brought crashing back down to earth again when they host Tottenham on Sunday, despite the absence of talisman Son Heung-min.
The visitors knocked Burnley out of the FA Cup last weekend and have won five of their last six in all competitions, leaving them only one point off a top four spot and still in the Premier League title race.
Away from home it has been a bit trickier for Ange Postecoglou’s side, but they have still only lost two of their ten league trips and have won half of their away days.
Manchester United simply cannot be relied upon at this point of the season, so suggesting Spurs to come out either with a point or three points. The visitors have scored two or more goals in eight of their ten league away games this season but have only kept two clean sheets, so I am of the opinion that both teams will score.
Looking at their prior head-to-head meetings stretching back to 11/04/2021 shows that Manchester United have won 4 of these games and Tottenham Hotspur 1, with the number of drawn results being 1. A sum of 20 goals were scored between them during those clashes, with 13 for The Red Devils and 7 coming from Spurs. The average number of goals per game works out to 3.33.
The last league clash between these sides was Premier League match day 2 on 19/08/2023 when the final score was Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Manchester United. In that match, Tottenham Hotspur had 56% possession and 17 shots on goal with 6 on target.
Their only player to score was Pape Matar Sarr (49′). For their opponents, Manchester United got 22 attempts on goal with 6 of them on target. Lisandro Martínez (83′ Own goal) scored.
Team News: Manchester United
Harry Maguire (Groin injury), Mason Mount (unknown injury), Victor Lindelof (Groin injury) and Tyrell Malacia (unknown injury) won’t be playing for Manchester United gaffer Erik ten Hag.
It looks as if The Red Devils will possibly go for a 4-2-3-1 system in the match, handing starts Onana, Diogo Dalot, Raphael Varane, Jonny Evans, Luke Shaw, Kobbie Mainoo, Christian Eriksen, Alejandro Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hoejlund.
Team News: Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has some current player fitness concerns. Manor Solomon (Meniscus injury), Giovani Lo Celso (Muscle injury), Ivan Perisic (Cruciate ligament tear), Alejo Véliz (Knee injury), Cristian Romero (Hamstring strain) Alfie Whiteman (Ankle injury) and Son Heung-Min will not be playing here.
I am of the thinking that Spurs seem likely to play in a 4-2-3-1 formation by sending out Guglielmo Vicario, Pedro Porro, Emerson Royal, Micky van de Ven, Iyenoma Udogie, Rodrigo Bentancur, Oliver Skipp, Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski, Timo Werner and Richarlison.
It seems to me that Tottenham Hotspur will have a tough assignment to put one past a Manchester United lineup who seem set to control this match, should everything go as I am expecting. I think that it’s going to be a very comfortable win for Manchester United when the referee blows the final whistle…CONTINUE READING>>
