Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United: Desperate wins needed for both?

Manchester United travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to face Spurs on Saturday evening. Both teams are in woeful form. Tottenham have only won two of their last six league matches and are on negative goal difference in sixth place. United are a point worse and have had equally bad form with just one point from a potential twelve recently. Both teams are desperate for a win and both managers are under extreme pressure to perform. This could be a very interesting match as it’s must-win for both and a point does no favours for either. Here’s all you need to know:

Match Information:

Teams: Tottenham and Manchester United
Date: Saturday 30th October 2021
KO Time: 17:30 BST
Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Managers: Nuno Espirito Santo and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Referee: Chris Kavanagh

Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United Team News

For Manchester United there is plenty of good news. United have trained with a fully fit squad with both Varane and Martial fully fit and ready to feature for United. Paul Pogba trained but is suspended for three matches, including the Manchester Derby and the away trip to Watford after the international break.

As for Tottenham, Bryan Gil looks set to miss out after suffering an ankle injury against Burnley in the Carabao Cup and will join Ryan Sessegnon on the injury table. Matt Doherty could feature but is unlikely to displace Emerson Royal.

Manchester United have had a full week of training while Spurs struggled to a 1-0 win over Burnley on Wednesday. Harry Kane played the full 90 and as did Emerson, Romero and Hojbjerg. Oliver Skipp lasted 66 minutes and Son and Ndombele came off the bench along with the game-winner, Lucas Moura.

Interesting Facts:

• Manchester United have not lost away to Spurs since 2018 in a 2-0 defeat at Wembley. They have won two and drawn once since then. All three games have come under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
• Manchester United are four games without a clean sheet against Spurs. Their last one came in a 1-0 win in 2019 courtesy of Marcus Rashford.
• Harry Kane has 4 goals and 2 assists against Manchester United. However, he has only contributed with them in 3 of his 14 appearances against United.
• Cristiano Ronaldo has 10 goals and 5 assists in 18 matches against Spurs. He has only lost to them once.
• Nuno Espirito Santo has a six game winless run against United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Ole has won three of these encounters and drawn the other three. All three wins were by a one goal margin (1-0, 1-0 and 2-1).

Predicted Teams

Tottenham

Tottenham may make a few changes to the side that struggled against West Ham. I think Spurs will sit back and try and counter United as that’s their biggest weakness at the moment. A front three of Kane, Son and Moura will do just that and cause a lot of problems. Nuno may be tempted with a back five to give Reguilon and Emerson more attacking freedom and keep defensive rigidity. I could see Skipp and Hojbjerg sitting in front of a defensive three of Dier, Romero and Tanganga. It may backfire as Spurs are equally as error-prone in a five than a four but safety in numbers could work with Romero gaining confidence and Tanganga a big-game player.

Predicted Team: Lloris, Emerson, Romero, Dier, Tanganga, Reguilon, Skipp, Hojbjerg, Moura, Son, Kane

Manchester United

This is a tricky one. Ole needs to be ruthless and cut out anyone he thinks isn’t playing well enough or working hard enough. Against Spurs, United need creativity and directness and with Pogba out, I think Sancho and Rashford start on the wings. I could see Ronaldo playing against Atalanta as he will be crucial on the counter. I would love to see Cavani start this game and press Spurs’ vulnerable defence. In midfield, it’s tricky. Fred has played well the last two games all things considered but if pressed, he could set off a devastating counter for Spurs. Matic and Van de Beek in midfield has been called for but I think Ole will pick Fred and Matic in a midfield pivot. McTominay hasn’t been playing too well and has given the ball away a lot. At the back, you could argue a change of Maguire or Shaw for Varane and Telles. I can see Ole picking Telles simply because Shaw was woeful and needs another subtle kick in the right direction. I think Maguire starts alongside Varane as he is United’s captain and won’t be benched.

Predicted Team: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Maguire, Telles, Matic, Fred, Fernandes, Sancho, Rashford, Cavani

Predicted Score:

Both teams have to react but I expect Nuno to be conservative while I expect Ole to go all guns blazing and show United mean business. United will hope to avoid the standard away result; play well, concede first, comeback in the second half. Manchester United need an early goal and disrupt the Tottenham Hotspur gameplan. If they can do that, it could be a very good day for United. History between Nuno and Ole screams a narrow win or a bore-draw. But neither want or need the latter. This is a big chance to show United aren’t dead and buried and the team is playing for the fans and, more importantly, for the manager.

Predicted Score: 1-3 to United.