Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur

BPL 2018-19 – Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur Match Preview

Most anticipated match of game week 3! Manchester United take Tottenham at Old Trafford on Monday night football. There’s been a ton of turmoil for Man Utd, but a win here could absolutely change the mood in Manchester. Meanwhile, Tottenham have played well, have a 100% record and in current situation, they should surely have to believe that they can finally overcome their recent struggles at Old Trafford over the past few years. Let’s get into the preview deeper.

Manchester United

There’s been a lot of turmoil at United, fans are unhappy, players are unhappy and look very down in confidence, Mourinho is unhappy, the board are unhappy. Just in general, Man United are not in the right place right now and who knows, maybe Jose’s time is ticking at Old Trafford. Their horrible pre-season seem to have continued on in the Premier League. Sure, they beat Leicester on the opening day, but was it a good performance? Not by any means, some would say they got very lucky but a win’s a win and United fans would’ve hoped that getting 3 points could bring some confidence into the team. However, last week we saw all the problems re-occur at United. A 3-2 defeat to Brighton, 3-1 down by half time. Star players looking awful, Pogba messing around with the ball and losing it in dangerous areas, Martial was non-existent, Sanchez didn’t even travel while the backline was an absolute joke and United not spending money to fix it has showed. 2 Games 1 win 1 loss and nobody’s happy at the club. Surely, something’s got to change at United? You’d have to say this game against Tottenham is going to be absolutely crucial, a win may sort out the mood at United, but a loss at home and Mourinho will for sure be on the hot seat. Man Utd does have a very good record at old Trafford against Spurs recently winning 4 straight games and keeping a clean sheet in all of them and Spurs are not a very good big away game side so winning this game is absolutely a must for Man United.

Looking at team news, there’s been some good news for United. Antonio Valencia and Nemanja Matic are listed as probable to play for this match, however we may not see them starting right away as they’ve missed a bit of time. Alexis Sanchez is also a possible inclusion in the starting line-up after missing the Brighton game last week and could slot back in for Martial. We could definitely see changes in the Man United side after the disgusting performance last week, a shake could be something United need and players such as Lingard, Herrera, Rashford could make a nice impact. However, it’s up to Jose to decide whether he wants to make too many changes. Whether Jose sets up defensively or offensively is hard to predict, they’ll probably play more attacking side the game is at Old Trafford, they do need a win badly in the end.

Tottenham Hotspur

New season, same stuff from Spurs. Looking good and winning games. They picked up a very good away win at Newcastle 1-2 and then beat Fulham 3-1 at Wembley in a pretty tough game which was still tied 1-1 with 15 minutes to go, but Tottenham showed good mental strength to overcome the test and won. 6 points out of 6 and now Spurs will feel confident they can go to Old Trafford and get something out of there. The team is still the same, the top performers are the same and FINALLY, Harry Kane has broke his goal scoring duck in August! Lucas Moura has been one player that stood out and the Brazilian finally seems to have hit the ground running at Tottenham. There’s not much to really say about Spurs, they’re the same team as last year and they’ve won games they should win. Their away record against big teams is a little problematic, but given United’s troubles you’d have to admit that this is the best chance the Spurs have at beating a big team away from home.

Looking at team news, Victor Wanyama he returned to training but he’s still out while Son Heung Min in unavailable due to playing for South Korea in Asian games right now. Other than that, everyone is fit and ready to go. Last week, we saw Spurs play a 3-4-3 formation with Aldeiweireld and Trippier returning to the lineup. We shouldn’t expect too much of a chance from Spurs after a win last week and Pochettino is quite likely to keep the line-up the same unless he decides to bring in more defensive protection with someone like Dembele. Expect Tottenham to have a go, United tend to be the more defensive side between the two so Spurs getting to dominate the possession in a big away game is a likely scenario its just whether they can do anything with it is the question. It’s definitely a good opportunity for Spurs to win at Old Trafford and get revenge for being beaten in the FA Cup semi final last season.

What to Expect

One of the toughest games to predict. We simply do not know what to expect here. It could be a Man United meltdown and Jose may have lost the team completely, or they may show up and put in a great performance as they are a very good home team under Mourinho regardless of the problems. On current form and team situation, you’ve got to tip Tottenham as favourites but their history of bottling big games, especially away from home is something that must be put into consideration and these things can take a mental toll on a team. If we had to predict a score it’d be a 1-1 draw. United are in turmoil, but at home they’re more than good enough to avoid a defeat to Tottenham. Betting wise we’d offer an under 2.5 goals as these sides have had quite a few under games, especially at OT with the recent 3 all being 1-0 United wins. So yeah to summarise, it’ll be a hard fought 1-1 draw, United will turn up for their fans but their lack of form will only get them a draw. Lukaku and Kane to get on the scoresheet.

Match Odds (TonyBet)

Manchester United Win – 2.55

Draw – 3.30

Tottenham Hotspur Win – 2.95

KICK OFF – 27th August 2018 – 8pm UK Time