Manchester United vs Tottenham
English Premier League 2016/17
11th December, 14:15 pm BST
Old Trafford, Manchester.
Manchester United host Tottenham in the Premier league this weekend and the Red Devils will be looking to get back to winning ways.
Jose Mourinho’s men have failed to win five of their last six Premier League matches and the Portuguese tactician is under a lot of pressure to deliver. Manchester United have drawn four of their last five matches. Despite dominating most games, the Old Trafford outfit have struggled in front of the goal.
When they signed Mkhitaryan and Ibrahimovic in the summer, few would have expected United to struggle with their goalscoring. However, both the new signings have failed to replicate their usual standards at their new club and the likes of Martial and Rooney are simply out of form at this moment.
A tense derby awaits us as sixth-placed Red Devils take on Spurs who sit in fith, six points clear. It is a do or die match for the home side who need a win to preserve what little title hope remains. Tottenham were unbeaten in the first 12 rounds, before eventually laying their arms to Conte’s men, but have since rediscovered their form trashing Swansea 5-0, and most recently beating CSKA Moscow 3-1 in the Champions League.
Tottenham might have picked up an impressive 3-1 win over CSKA in the Champions League, but it leaves them with sour taste knowing Europa League campaign awaits. Considered as one of the title favoriets, it would’ve probably served them best to have dropped out of Europe completely than stretch their squad across two competitions. Harry Kane’s absence has already proven they can’t cope without their star men and don’t have the depth to rotate a lot.
Jose Mourinho’s men have failed to win five of their last six Premier League matches and the Portuguese is under increasing pressure. The Red Devils can’t seem to close down games they are winning and have drawn four of their last five matches. There is an obvious improvement as they’ve dominated most of the matches, but have stuggled in fornt of goal. There were a lot fingers pointing at Ibrahimovic who was failing to deliver, but the big Swede is slowly starting to show why he was brought in.
Manchester United defender Eric Bailly could make his first league appearance since October after returning from injury in Thursday'sEuropa League win.
Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw remain out, but Michael Carrick and Antonio Valencia are in contention after being rested for the trip to Ukraine.
Toby Alderweireld will be involved for Spurs after making his comeback from a knee injury against CSKA Moscow.
Erik Lamela and Vincent Janssen remain unavailable.
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho on needing more goals from Wayne Rooney: "In my team, he (Rooney) is an attacking player - he will play as a nine or a 10, or eventually coming from one of the sides.
"So as an attacking player, normally he scores more goals. We expect more goals from him, yes, but we expect more goals from everyone in the team.
"Maybe Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) is the one but as the main striker it is normal that he has more goals scored.
"But all the other attacking players, we expect more goals from them."
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino on Mourinho: "For me, he is the Special One and will always be the Special One.
"He was a reference when I started my career at Espanyol. He was always very kind to me and opened his door.
"Sometimes you struggle a bit - it's not easy to arrive at a new club, set up ideas and philosophy but he was, is and will be one of the best managers in football history."
Predicted Manchester United Starting Lineup (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Valencia, Bailly, Rojo, Blind; Pogba, Herrera; Martial, Rooney, Mkhitaryan; Ibrahimovic
Predicted Tottenham Starting Lineup (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Wanyama, Dier; Eriksen, Son, Alli; Kane
AgaasportNews Predicted Scores:
Manchester United 2 Tottenham 1
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