MY ACCOUNT
Manchester United welcome Tottenham to Old Trafford in arguably the pick of the midweek matches in the Premier League — and Erik ten Hag’s side may be in for another testing 90 minutes.
It has been an up and down start to life at United for Ten Hag, who has seen his side record notable wins over the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal, but also suffer damaging defeats — the 4-0 loss at Brentford in August particularly springs to mind.
Tottenham’s start to the season has been a lot more consistent, as Antonio Conte’s side are heading into the midweek programme sitting third in the standings and having only lost one of their 10 top-flight games to date, while key players such as Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son appear to be hitting top form.
Spurs also have recent happy memories of visiting Old Trafford, setting aside last season’s 3-2 loss, and a victory for the north London outfit would see them move 10 points clear of United in the standings.
Team news
Marcus Rashford is expected to return to United’s starting XI after coming on as a substitute during Sunday’s goalless draw with Newcastle and he could take Cristiano Ronaldo’s place in the line-up.
Scott McTominay is available to Ten Hag following suspension and he could replace Fred in the middle of the park.
Harry Maguire (hamstring), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (muscle) and Donny van de Beek (muscle) all remain on the treatment table, while Christian Eriksen is struggling with illness and the game may come too soon for Anthony Martial, although he is closing in on a return following a back issue.
Kane and Son will undoubtedly start for Spurs, but the third member of their attack remains up for debate after Richarlison picked up a calf injury during Saturday’s victory over his former club Everton, while Dejan Kulusevski is still nursing a hamstring issue.
The stats
United have won their last three meetings with Spurs, scoring three goals on each occasion, with Ronaldo grabbing a hat-trick during the 3-2 victory the last time they met in March.
Spurs’ last two victories over United have come at Old Trafford, though, and in spectacular fashion, as they followed up a 3-0 win at the venue in August 2018 with a famous 6-1 success just over two years ago.
In total, United have won 95 of the previous 197 meetings between the two sides, with Spurs grabbing 53 victories and there have been 49 draws.
Kane has scored in each of his last five Premier League appearances for Tottenham. If he were to net against United then he would be the first Spurs player in history to notch in six consecutive outings in the division.
Prediction
United have been a difficult team to gauge under Ten Hag, but they were rather toothless in drawing 0-0 with Newcastle last time out and could be found wanting when Spurs head to town.
Spurs have been solid, if often unspectacular this season, but with Kane having netted in five league matches on the spin and Son having notched five in his last six across all competitions, it appears they could be clicking into gear.
Conte’s side have only lost one of their last 10 away matches in the league, a run that dates back to March, and they look good value to leave Manchester with all three points at 7/4 via LiveScore Bet, while Kane is 11/8 to be an anytime scorer.
