Manchester United take on Tottenham at Old Trafford on Monday night, hoping to bounce back from their shock defeat to Brighton last weekend.
It’s fair to say that Manchester United have not had the best start to the season. Their close victory against Leicester already seems a long time ago. So much has happened since then: a shock defeat at the hands of Brighton, criticism coming at Jose Mourinho and Ed Woodward from just about every and concern about Paul Pogba’s future at the club. No wonder The Special One looks so grumpy. But United are still top four contenders and being backed into a corner will make them more dangerous than ever.
Spurs have not been without problems of their own, despite a 3-1 win over Fulham at the weekend. They still have not received a confirmation date for when they will move into their new stadium. A wiring fault means that things have been pushed back to the end of October at the earliest. At least the doubts over Toby Alderweireld’s future appear to have been put to rest, and it seems that the Belgian defender will be seeing out the rest of his contract. He could still add an element of tension to Monday’s game, given that he was linked most strongly to Manchester United over the summer.
Manchester United vs. Tottenham Predictions
It’ll be fascinating to see how Jose Mourinho lines his side up to play on Monday night. One thing for sure is that the fans will back him, considering their dislike for Ed Woodward. However, a defeat on Monday, particularly if they’re set up to defend, will lead to criticism. Pochettino has nothing to lose in this game and it would be no surprise to see Spurs go to Old Trafford and leave with at least a point, if not three.
Manchester United vs. Tottenham Betting Tips
Head to Head
- This will be the 190th meeting between the two Premier League giants. As you might expect, United have historically dominated the fixture, winning 90 of their past meetings with Spurs taking 51 wins.
- Manchester United have won 21 of their 26 Premier League home matches against Spurs (D3 L2) and have been victorious in each of the last four without conceding a goal.
- The home team have won the last seven Premier League meetings between Manchester United and Spurs, a run stretching back to March 2015.
- Spurs were the last team from London to win a Premier League match at Old Trafford, on New Year’s Day in 2014.
- Mauricio Pochettino has won 199 matches in all competitions as a manager, excluding shootouts, with 123 of these coming at Spurs.
Manchester United Team News
Alexis Sanchez has returned to training, but is unlikely to feature as he’s still nursing the injury that ruled him out of last week’s trip to Brighton. Antonio Valencia, Nemanja Matic and Jesse Lingard have also all returned to training. Both Valencia and Matic are contenders to start this weekend.
Possible Manchester United XI: David de Gea, Antonio Valencia, Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw, Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba, Fred, Juan Mata, Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez
Tottenham Team News
Son Heung-Min is still representing South Korea at the Asian Games, meaning that he misses out, as does Victor Wanyama, who’s still sidelined with a knee injury. Juan Foyth, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Josh Onamah are all still recovering, but Harry Winks is in contention to start, having overcome his injury.
Possible Spurs XI: Hugo Lloris, Kieran Trippier, Davinson Sanchez, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Ben Davies, Mousa Dembele, Eric Dier, Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, Harry Kane
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