MATCH PREVIEW - MANCHESTER UNITED V TOTTENHAM

 


TRIVIA

Venue - Old Trafford, Manchester
Kick Off - Saturday, October 4 -  16 : 30 GMT 
                 Saturday, October 4 - 21:00 IST

After three consecutive wins, Manchester United are starting to get into the groove and will look to continue that winning run against former manager Jose Mourinho's Tottenham Hotspurs. The red devils were dominant in their win against Brighton in the Carabao Cup as they progressed to the quarterfinals on a competition which they could very likely win this season. As for their Premier League hopes - a title challenge is taking it a bit too far but  they will look to finish in the top 4 yet again even if they have had a poor transfer window with the only addition yet to the squad being Donny van de Beek. A win against Tottenham will be a marker for things to come..

As for Tottenham, they recently made the group stages of the Europa League after blitzing through the qualifying stages with no real challenge, Mourinho will be looking to get a win against his former club for the first time as the manager of Tottenham Hotspurs. Spurs' start to the Premier League has been a mixed bag - they lost at home to a resurgent Everton , they drew against Newcastle at the last minute because of a crazy VAR call and beat a hapless Southampton 5 - 2 where Son Heung Minh scored 4 goals. 

TEAM FORM

Manchester United, after a torrid start to the season after the loss at home against Crystal Palace where they were simply outplayed, have had a good run away from home as they have won 3 in a row after that which included a dramatic last minute win against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Tottenham have played more games till now than any other English team as they also had to take part in the European qualifiers where they had virtually no resistance as they qualified for the group stage. They also recently knocked out Chelsea in the Carabao Cup on penalties as Jose Mourinho got one over his former team. In the Premier League, they have won 1, lost 1 and drawn 1 in the three fixtures they have played. 


TEAM NEWS

Manchester United will be without Axel Tuanzebe and Phil Jones who are both out with injuries and are not yet ready to feature in the first team. Harry Maguire who was absent in the Carabao Cup win against Brighton will be available for selection as confirmed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

As for Tottenham Hotspurs, Son Heung Minh is a doubt after he took a knock during the game against Newcastle. Giovani lo Celso is also a doubt after he picked up an injury on Thursday. Gareth Bale has trained with the first team and it will be interesting to see if he makes the squad. 

PREDICTED TEAM

Dean Henderson's fantastic  save will have given Solskjaer a lot to think about but he should stick to David de Gea in this one as he hasn't done anything to warrant being dropped. Eric Bailly after his impressive performance against Brighton should be amongst the starters. The midfield three should remain the same as used in the Premier League as so should the forward line even if Juan Mata made a case for first team selection. (We should see the Spaniard on the bench). 

PLAYER TO WATCH OUT FOR

BRUNO FERNANDES - Even with the slow start that United have had this season, Bruno Fernandes already has a goal and an assist to his name. The set piece specialist is always one step ahead of the opposition and no matter what gives more than a 100% for the club. He was also our only goal scorer in our last game against Spurs making him THE ONE TO WATCH OUT FOR..

VERDICT

Varun's prediction : Manchester United 2 - 1 Tottenham Hotspurs

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