GW 22: Tottenham vs. Manchester United

This weekend Tottenham are at home to a seemingly rejuvenated Manchester United side. Both the teams are in promising form at the moment and it looks as though they’ll both be strong contenders for Champions League football by the end of the season. Between both sides, they have only lost 2 times in the last 6 matchweeks winning a total of 10 during this period. This is largely due to Manchester United’s massive improvement under new caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but Tottenham have also been improving on their start to the season. Last time the 2 teams met it was a very one sided story with Tottenham coming out 3-0 winners. This time though, you would be right to expect a different outcome as Manchester United have looked much more composed in recent matches as well as having played free-flowing attacking football. Over the past few seasons this has been a very even fixture with each team winning 3 of the last 6 matches between the sides. In these last 6 games, the home side have won every time with the exception of one match, which was earlier this season. Overall, this game should be another close contest between these sides now that Manchester United have got their act together.

Tottenham have been a very dominant side in recent weeks and aside from in their slight slip up against Wolves, have been looking a very good side. They have now won 6 of their last 7 Premier League matches with an incredible 21 goals scored and 6 goals conceded. Tottenham are at home in the match but it shouldn’t advantage them to much, and could actually act as a disadvantage for them as they are currently a much better side when away from home this season. At home they have won 6 and lost 3 of their 9 matches while away, they have won 10 and lost 2 from 12 games. They are currently the best away side in the division while they are the 6th best home side, and their “home advantage” could work against them in the match. Tottenham’s last match was an extremely comfortable 3-0 win against Cardiff in which they had scored all 3 of their goals by the 26th minute. However, although the win was fairly simple, expected goals predicted the match at 1.29 to 1.03 in Tottenham’s favour, but this can largely relate to the fact that Tottenham sat back after scoring their early goals. In the match, Tottenham were allowed complete dominance of the ball as they managed 74% possession which is something that definitely won’t happen against United. They’ll have to really switch gears for this one as United should be a problematic side to play against based on how they’ve played in recent matches.

At the moment, Son is flying high in the Premier League and his contribution should be crucial in the match ahead. In only 998 minutes this season, he has managed 8 goals and 5 assists with a direct goal contribution every 76 minutes. Over the last few matchweeks he has quite probably been the most in form player in the league with 5 goals and 3 assists over the last 4 gameweeks. This includes consecutive braces against Everton and Bournemouth. As well as his quality in front of goal, Son is a brilliant all rounded attacker taking 2.4 shots per game, making 1.1 dribbles per game and making  1 key pass per match as well. Although United are poor defensively, they kept their first clean sheet under Solskjaer last week and Son will be crucial in breaking down their defence. Toby Alderweireld will be important when defending for Tottenham as he has been a main fixture in the side throughout Jan Vertonghen’s lengthy injury spell. His defensive contribution has been very consistent throughout the entirety of the season and he is currently making 1.7 tackles and interceptions per game for a side who do like to hold on to the ball. Although he is a good defensive player, his passing play is one of his main strengths as he is currently making 71 passes per game with an incredible 89% pass accuracy. This will definitely be important in this match as United are poor without the ball and have only scored 1 goal from counter-attacking situations this season.

After a terrible start to the season from United, they have bounced back superbly after sacking Jose Mourinho and hiring Solskjaer. They have now won their last 4 games scoring 14 goals and conceding 3 in this period. Although they’ve played some of the easier sides in the league, this consistency is promising as they look to recover from their rough spell that they endured early on. A problem for United this season has been their performances against the other big sides as they haven’t won a single game against the other members of the “big 6” from the 5 games that they have played. This is largely due to their shaky defence as they have conceded 32 goals and have only managed 3 clean sheets over the course of the season. However, after achieving a clean sheet last game, things look positive and they might be on the right track to achieving defensive solidity. United’s last game was a 2-0 win against struggling Newcastle. The match was never really in doubt as they came out on top according to expected goals as well, as it was predicted at 2.55 to 0.63 in their favour. Again, just like Tottenham, they’ll have to prepare for a different sort of challenge in this next match their opponents are a much more difficult side.

At the moment, Pogba is playing brilliantly under Solskjaer and is really thriving due to United’s free flowing attacking play. Because of this, he’ll be expected to cause havoc and Tottenham will definitely need to keep an eye on him. In his new attacking midfield role, he has managed 4 goals and 3 assists over his last 4 games proving his quality when played further up the field. He now has a total of 13 goal contributions across the season and with 7 of these coming from his last 4, you can see why he might pose a threat. Rashford will be another key attacker for United as he is another player benefitting from the hiring of Solskjaer. His shot numbers have gone up massively over the last few games as he has managed 4.5 shots per game over his last 4 games. When you compare this to his 2 shots per game in his 5 prior starts, you see how much he is improving. This is largely due to a role change from a left or right winger to becoming the main striker as Solskjaer has preferred him over Lukaku. This has helped him as it supports his roaming game as he’s allowed to move freely from left to right and as we’ve seen previously, it has helped his ability to shoot. Tottenham have a relatively fast backline and his pace will be important in exposing their insecurities.

Spurs have a few injury problems and are especially limited in central midfield at the moment. Vertonghen, Dier, Dembele and Wanyama are all guaranteed to miss the game while Lucas Moura could still be fit for the match. With all of their 3 main defensive midfield players injured, they could be overrun in the back and United might be able to dominate possession as Tottenham are without a strong presence in the middle of the park. Also, with Jan Vertonghen still injured, they lose his ability to pass out from the back which could also lead to United having the greater share of the ball. United also have a large number of injury problems but when comparing it to previous weeks, they look much less depleted. Smalling, Bailly and Rojo are all missing out for sure while Pogba and Sanchez are both doubts for the match. This leaves United with only 2 senior centre-backs and with Jones in bad form, Tottenham’s in form attack might be able to capitalize on mistakes. Another huge injury problem for United is the fact that Pogba could miss out. Luckily for them though, he is still likely to play in the match after suffering a slight knock in their last match. If he were to miss out though, United would lose much of their attacking vigour and creativity and they might struggle to create chances.

With both teams in tremendous form at the moment (2nd and 3rd place in the form table) the match looks set to be an important game for both sides as they’re aspiring for Champions League football. Manchester United have been really poor against other top 6 opposition this season but with Solskjaer now in charge, they have a chance to redeem themselves away from home. At this stage it’s honestly very hard to predict the course of the match as although both teams are playing well, they have been racking up their points against poor opposition and Solskjaer hasn’t had to have play against another big club yet. However, I predict  2-1 in the home sides favour and I believe United won’t have enough defensively to keep out this Spurs side.