Manchester United -v- Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League
Old Trafford, Manchester
Sunday 14 January 2023, KO 16:30 GMT
Manchester United welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League. Erik ten Hag will need to get his team back to winning ways in the league as they look to start 2024 in good stead following their FA Cup victory over Wigan Athletic.
United have had a massive injury crisis to deal with over the first part of the season which has seen at least four defenders out of action at the same time and some experienced members of the midfield were also out at the same time which gave United some major problems.
The injury crisis is coming to an end for United now, so the players will need to get up to speed and start grinding out the results to try and end the season in much better stead than they started. Spurs started well initially but have dropped places in the league sitting in fifth with United in eighth.
United – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Wigan 2-0 W, Forest 2-1 L, Villa 3-2 W, West Ham 2-0 L, Liverpool 0-0 D, Bayern 1-0 L
Goals: 6 – Bruno Fernandes, Rasmus Hojlund, Scott McTominay, 5 – Alejandro Garnacho, 4 – Casemiro, 3 – Marcus Rashford, 2 – Diogo Dalot, Anthony Martial, 1 – Christian Eriksen, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Hannibal Mejbri, Raphael Varane
Assists: 5 – Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, 2 – Christian Eriksen, Alejandro Garnacho, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 1 – Casemiro, Diogo Dalot, Jonny Evans, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Anthony Martial, Lisandro Martínez, Scott McTominay, Mason Mount, Facundo Pellistri, Luke Shaw
Spurs – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Burnley 1-0 W, Bournemouth 3-1 W, Brighton 4-2 L, Everton 2-1 W, Forest 2-0 W, Newcastle 4-1 W
Goals: 12 – Son Heung-min, 7 – Richarlison, 5 – Dejan Kulusevski, 3 – James Maddison, Cristian Romero, 2 – Ben Davies, Giovani Lo Celso, Pape Sarr, 1 – Brennan Johnson, Pedro Porro, Emerson Royal, Destiny Udogie, Micky van de Ven, Alejo Véliz
Assists: 6 – Pedro Porro, 5 – Son Heung-min, James Maddison, 4 – Brennan Johnson, 3 – Richarlison, 2 – Dejan Kulusevski, Giovani Lo Celso, Ivan Perisic, Pape Sarr, Manor Solomon, Destiny Udogie
Previous Meetings & Connections
United and Spurs have met 63 times in the Premier League. United have won 39 times, drawn 13 times with Spurs winning 11 times. United have scored 108 goals; winning eight penalties, scoring all of them. Spurs have scored 63 goals; winning two penalties, scoring both.
United have kept 29 clean sheets with Spurs keeping just nine. Over the years, this has been a big clash and discipline has been an issue. United players have been shown 114 yellow cards and four red cards with Spurs players shown 98 yellow cards and one red card.
Jack Hall, Jimmy Brown, Garth Crooks, Alan Brazil, Terry Gibson, Chris McGrath, Fraizer Campbell, Chris Jones, Zeki Fryers, Teddy Sheringham, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Carrick have played for both United and Spurs in the history of the two clubs.
Team News
Sofyan Amrabat is the only player that is definitely missing from the Spurs game with his participation in the African Cup of Nations. Amad Diallo, Antony and Christian Eriksen are all back in the squad to face Spurs, which is welcome news for the Red Devils.
Luke Shaw has a 75% chance of being fit for this big match. Lisandro Martinez, Harry Maguire and Casemiro all have 50% chances of being fit. Anthony Martial, Victor Lindelof, Mason Mount and Tyrell Malacia all have 25% chances and look to miss out on playing in this match.
Heung-Min Son, Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma are all missing due to participation in international tournaments. James Maddison, Manor Solomon, Ben Davies, Alejo Veliz and Ivan Perisic are all injured. Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso are both doubts for this clash with United.
Predicted United Starting XI – 4-2-3-1
Onana;
Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Shaw;
Casemiro, Eriksen;
Amad, Fernandes, Garnacho;
Hojlund
Predicted Spurs Starting XI – 4-3-3
Vicario;
Porro, Royal, Dragusin, Udogie;
Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Lo Celso;
Johnson, Richarlison, Gil
Match Prediction
United will need to find their form quickly now that the injury crisis at the club is all but over. It could be that the likes of Luke Shaw, Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro are back in action, which would be great for Ten Hag with United needing a win in the Premier League.
United have been good at times this season, especially in the Champions League but have fallen short on the number goals conceded, which was to be expected with a whole host of players on the injury list – now it could be that United’s season starts well with wins needed to better their form.
Spurs will be a tough test for United, especially as they still have that new manager bounce, which turned them into title challengers for a stage, although they have fallen short of that at this time – but it could change for them. United need to be in much better form to raise their league position.
Manchester United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Written by John Walker
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