Preview: United up for the challenge of Spurs; The Twente match needs to solve United’s lack of concentration; Ugarte to start?

Manchester United -v- Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League

Old Trafford, Manchester

Sunday 29 September 2024, KO 16:30 BST

Manchester United return to Premier League action at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon when they welcome Tottenham Hotspur. United are unbeaten in their last four matches in all competitions, drawing the last two, which is not great but is better than the two match losing streak before.

United need to start getting results in the Premier League to better their league position. At the time of writing, United were sat in 11th place with Spurs sitting a place about in 10th – sharing the same number of points – seven. Erik ten Hag will need to get the better of Spurs this weekend.

United had the chance to return to winning ways after a 0-0 draw against Palace after returning to UEFA Europa League action against Twente with Christian Eriksen opening the scoring in the first half but Twente then equalised after a United error. United will relish this clash against Spurs.

United – Form, Goals Scored & Assists

Twente 1-1 D, Palace 0-0 D, Barnsley 7-0 W, Southampton 3-0 W, Liverpool 3-0 L, Brighton 2-1 L

Goals: 4 – Alejandro Garnacho, 3 – Christian Eriksen, Marcus Rashford, 1 – Amad, Antony, Matthijs de Ligt, Joshua Zirkzee

Assists: 4 – Bruno Fernandes, 3 – Alejandro Garnacho, 1 – Amad, Diogo Dalot, Christian Eriksen, Noussair Mazraoui, Marcus Rashford

Spurs – Form, Goals Scored & Assists

Qarabag 3-0 W, Brentford 3-1 W, Coventry 2-1 W, Arsenal 1-0 L, Newcastle 2-1 L, Everton 4-0 W

Goals: 3 – Brennan Johnson, 2 – Son Heung-Min, Dominic Solanke, 1 – Yves Bissouma, James Maddison, Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Pape Sarr, Djed Spence

Assists: 2 – Son Heung-Min, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, 1 – Rodrigo Bentancur, Dominic Solanke, Micky van de Ven

Previous Meetings & Connections

United and Spurs have met 64 times in the history of the Premier League. United have won 39 times, drawn 14 times with Spurs winning 11 times. United have scored 110 goals, winning eight penalties, scoring eight. Spurs have scored 65 goals, winning two penalties, scoring two.

United have kept 29 clean sheets against Spurs with the North London side keeping just nine clean sheets. United players have been shown 116 yellow cards in this fixture with Spurs players being shown 99 yellow cards. United were shown four red cards with Spurs shown one.

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

United: United have four players out with injuries at this time; all four of them defenders with two of them in the fullback positions, which has left United light on options for the foreseeable future. Once these players are back, which could happen soon, United will be much stronger.

Ruled Out: Victor Lindelof (ankle/foot), Luke Shaw (calf/shin/heel), Tyrell Malacia (knee) and Leny Yoro (ankle/foot)

Suspended: None

Close to Returning: None

Spurs: Spurs will have up to three players out of action for the visit to Old Trafford where they will be expected to put in a good performance to make some distance between the two sides in the Premier League this season. Spurs have not always done well at the Theatre of Dreams – fingers crossed!

Ruled Out: Richarlison (calf/shin/heel) and Wilson Odobert (thigh)

Suspended: None

Close to Returning: Son Heung-Min (late fitness test)

How to watch United v Spurs in the Premier League

In the United Kingdom, the match is due to kick off at 16:30 BST and will be broadcast on Sky Sports. There will be former Premier League players in the studio as pundits to look at the insight ahead of the match, at half time and after full time. There are other options.

MUTV will have their Matchday Live program which will see former United players involved in the pre and post match discussions, also looking at the first half of the match during half time. But once the match kicks off, MUTV will revert to radio coverage of the clash with Spurs.

Highlights of the match will be available on Sky Sports following the match, which will be relayed onto YouTube later on Sunday for those who may have missed the match to see what happened but also those seeking to analyse to do just that. This will be a big match for United and Spurs.

Predicted United Starting XI – 4-2-3-1

Onana;

Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez, Dalot;

Ugarte, Mainoo;

Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford;

Zirkzee

Predicted Spurs Starting XI – 4-3-3

Vicario;

Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie;

Kulusevski, Bentancur, Maddison;

Johnson, Solanke, Werner

Match Prediction

United have played very well in their last four matches, avoiding any defeats like in the two matches prior to the first international break of the season. United have won twice and drawn twice – the two draws in the last two matches. United did well against Palace but struggled against Twente.

Against Spurs, United will always need to watch themselves as the counter attack could leave them stuck once again. They don’t have to deal with Harry Kane any more but Dominic Solanke is a predatory striker and will seek to score goals. There are many other threats in their squad too.

United will need to provide the threat in this match, which will be important for the Red Devils to distance themselves from Spurs in the Premier League table, moving higher in the league, which is what Ten Hag will need to be doing this season. United need to be so much better than they are.

Manchester United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Written by Paul