Tottenham Hotspur -v- Manchester United
Carabao Cup
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
Thursday 19 December 2024, KO 20:00 GMT
Manchester United return to Carabao Cup action on Thursday evening as they travel to London to face Tottenham Hotspur. Ruben Amorim’s side will be boosted by their victory over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, coming from behind to win 2-1.
United need to continue turning the corner to grind out results and push their opposition. Amorim will have more of a clue about the players he can trust in the coming matches to fight for the victory. Bruno Fernandes and Amad have shown themselves recently, which is great to see, especially now that Amad has shone.
United will need to press Spurs if they are to beat them in the Carabao Cup on Thursday evening. Perhaps Spurs will be wondering if United are going to show up against them seeing as United didn’t when the two sides last met in the Premier League back in September when Spurs scored three goals without reply.
United – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
City 2-1 W, Plzeň 2-1 W, Forest 3-2 L, Arsenal 2-0 L, Everton 4-0 W, Bodø/Glimt 3-2 W
Goals: 8 – Alejandro Garnacho, 7 – Rasmus Hojlund, Marcus Rashford, 6 – Bruno Fernandes, 4 – Amad, Christian Eriksen, 3 – Casemiro, Joshua Zirkzee, 1 – Antony, Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire
Assists: 10 – Bruno Fernandes, 6 – Amad, 4 – Alejandro Garnacho, 3 – Christian Eriksen, Marcus Rashford, 2 – Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui, Joshua Zirkzee, 1 – Rasmus Hojlund, Lisandro Martinez, Manuel Ugarte
Spurs – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Southampton 5-0 W, Rangers 1-1 D, Chelsea 4-3 L, Bournemouth 1-0 L, Fulham 1-1 D, Roma 2-2 D
Goals: 10 – Brennan Johnson, 7 – James Maddison, Dominic Solanke, 6 – Heung-min Son, 5 – Dejan Kulusevski, 4 – Pape Matar Sarr, 2 – Yves Bissouma, Pedro Porro, 1 – Rodrigo Bentancur, Will Lankshear, Richarlison, Cristian Romero, Djed Spence, Timo Werner
Assists: 7 – Dejan Kulusevski, 6 – Heung-min Son, 5 – James Maddison, 4 – Dominic Solanke, 3 – Pedro Porro, Timo Werner, 2 – Lucas Bergvall, Brennan Johnson, Pape Matar Sarr, Micky van de Ven, 1 – Rodrigo Bentancur, Richarlison, Djed Spence, Destiny Udogie
Previous Meetings & Connections
United and Spurs have met eight times in the Carabao Cup. United have won three times (one on penalties), drawn once and lost five times. United scored seven goals against Spurs. Spurs scored 11 goals against United. The last match between Spurs and United in the Carabao Cup was back in 2009, a 4-1 penalty win for United.
It was 1998 when Spurs last beat United in the League Cup, which says more about United’s success that that of Spurs, who have been largely unsuccessful, which will remain as the club does not have what it takes to win trophies galore. I would expect United to beat Spurs on Thursday to set another example.
Jack Hall, Jimmy Brown, Garth Crooks, Alan Brazil, Terry Gibson, Chris McGrath, Fraizer Campbell, Chris Jones, Zeki Fryers, Teddy Sheringham, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Carrick and Christian Eriksen have all played for both United and Spurs in the history of the two clubs.
Team News
United: Ruben Amorim’s squad is in a good position regarding injuries at this time. Just Luke Shaw and Mason Mount are out of action with Nousair Mazraoui suffering a knock in the victory over City on Sunday. Jonny Evans has returned to training and could well be back in action against Spurs on Thursday evening, or soon after.
Ruled Out: Luke Shaw (calf/shin/heel) and Mason Mount (muscular)
Suspended: None
Close to Returning: Noussair Mazraoui (knock)
Spurs: The North London club is not successful in football, having won their last trophy back in 2008 – 16 years ago and not actually challenging for anything since. The club has some major injury problems with six players ruled out of the clash against United, one suspended and two major doubts.
Ruled Out: Guglielmo Vicario (ankle/foot), Richarlison (thigh), Ben Davies (thigh), Wilson Odobert (thigh), Cristian Romero (thigh) and Micky van de Ven (thigh)
Suspended: Rodrigo Bentancur (seven match suspension)
Close to Returning: Heung-Min Son (knock – 50% chance of fitness) and Destiny Udogie (thigh – 25% chance of fitness)
Predicted United Starting XI – 3-4-2-1
Onana;
Maguire, De Ligt, Martinez;
Mazraoui, Ugarte, Mainoo, Dalot;
Amad, Fernandes;
Hojlund
Predicted Spurs Starting XI – 4-2-3-1
Forster;
Spence, Dragusin, Gray, Udogie;
Sarr, Bergvall;
Kulusevski, Maddison, Son;
Solanke
History, training and the lead up to the big match
United and Spurs have some major history with 202 competitive matches played in all competitions. United have won 96 times, drawn 51 times and lost 55 times. United have failed to win the last four matches against Spurs, drawing 2-2 twice and losing 2-0 and 3-0. Prior to these, United won four in a row.
United will be up for the challenge of Spurs and just like they did with City, will pose a suitable threat for the North London club. If United want to progress into the semi final, where they could face Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Southampton, Liverpool, Newcastle United or even Brentford – they need to beat Spurs.
United are not new to big occasion having won 70 trophies in the history of the club, including 20 top flight league titles, 12 FA Cups, six European honours and two international honours. Spurs would love that kind of history but it will only ever be a a dream. I think United can raise a challenge and beat Spurs on Thursday.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Manchester United
Written by Paul
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2024-12-17 20:00:00
