Match day 15 of the Premier League falls in midweek with most of the focus at Old Trafford on Wednesday as Jose Mourinho returns to Manchester United with his new Tottenham side.
The Portuguese tactician will be out to haunt his former club, while the Red Devils will be aiming to avenge last season’s 3-0 home defeat against Spurs.
*Please note that this article was written prior to these sides’ game week 14 fixtures.
To Win
Man United TBA
Draw TBA
Tottenham TBA
Manchester United
Despite an improved run of results and public backing of executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, the availability of Mauricio Pochettino would have Ole Gunnar Solskjaer feeling the heat. The Norwegian will be desperate to turn things around at Old Trafford and if he can steer his side to victory over Mourinho’s Tottenham, it will definitely please the United fans, while silencing some of his biggest critics.
United will be eager to gain revenge for their 3-0 home defeat against Spurs last season. Prior to that loss, the Red Devils had won each of their last four home meetings against the north London side, keeping clean sheets in all. With the return of star midfielder Paul Pogba, United will fancy their chances of victory.
Tottenham
While most Spurs fans would have been gutted with club chairman Daniel Levy’s decision to sack Pochettino – a man who rebuilt a shattered Spurs squad into a title competing, top four guaranteeing and Champions League finalist side in five years – replacing him with one of the greatest managers of all time in Mourinho shows ambition. Even rival fans believe that with the ‘Special One’ now in charge of Spurs, their trophy drought will soon come to an end.
With the north London side languishing in 10th place with 17 points from 13 games, there’s work to be done. One of the things that Mourinho needs to do is improve on last season’s record of just two wins against the Premier League’s big six. One thing’s for sure: the Portuguese thrives in big games and will relish the chance to get a victory over the club who sacked him in December last year.
Probable line-ups:
Man United: 4-3-3
De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Young; McTominay, Pogba, Fred; Rashford, Martial, James.
Tottenham: 4-2-2-2
Gazzaniga; Aurier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Ndombele, Winks; Eriksen, Alli; Son, Kane.
Prediction: Tottenham (TBA)
Spurs thrashed United 3-0 in their own back yard last season, so the players will be confident heading into this game. Mourinho will make his team tough to break down and with the firepower of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, I fancy the north London side to leave Old Trafford with maximum points.
Chad Nagel
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