Man Utd v Tottenham – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

Man Utd host Tottenham on Sunday evening in the English Premier League. The hosts have won just twice in seven home matches and face a Spurs team with five victories in their last six fixtures. United have won four of the last six meetings.

Man Utd Form

United have tasted victory in just 10 of their last 25 fixtures. A poor 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth preceded a 1-0 home defeat to Bayern Munich and an early exit from the UEFA Champions League. A 0-0 draw at Liverpool came despite allowing 2.38 xG.

A 2-0 defeat at West Ham was poor but they fought back brilliantly to win 3-2 at home to Aston Villa just three days later. They trailed 2-0 but came back to take all three points. That win proved a false dawn as they went to Nottingham Forest and deservedly lost 2-0. On Monday, they won 2-0 at Wigan in the FA Cup third round.

Man Utd Team News

Erik Ten Hag has five players ruled out and doubt over another eight options. Casemiro, Mason Mount, and Lisandro Martinez are ruled out whilst Sofyan Amrabat is away at the AFCON. Jadon Sancho remains suspended internally.

Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire are among the doubtful players. Antony and Amad Diallo are others who are close to a return. Christian Eriksen and Luke Shaw are two of the others who are going to need late fitness tests.

Man Utd Motivation

United have lost four of their last seven home fixtures and need to turn that slump around.

They will play at a high tempo and look to win this match. They may cede possession and play on the break a fair bit.

Tottenham Form

Tottenham have followed a run of four losses in five matches with a streak of five wins in six fixtures. A steady 2-0 victory at Nottingham Forest preceded a slightly fortunate 2-1 home win over Everton. They were then roundly outplayed in a 4-2 thrashing at Brighton where they trailed 4-0 and allowed 3.58 xG.

They beat Bournemouth 3-1 at home in an improved display. Last time out, Spurs won 1-0 at home to Burnley in the FA Cup third round. They huffed and puffed but Pedro Porro’s 78th minute winning goal saw them progress to the next round.

Tottenham Team News

Heung Min-Son, Yves Bissouma, and Pape Sarr are all away on international duty. Timo Werner could make his debut after arriving on loan from RB Leipzig.

Micky van de Ven is back from a hamstring injury, but Ben Davies is now injured, and Cristian Romero remains absent. James Maddison is out and his possible replacement in Gio Lo Celso is an injury concern.

Tottenham Motivation

Ange Postecoglou’s side will attack and look to win at Old Trafford.

They may see the Red Devils as vulnerable defensively and really take the game to them.

Key Stats

Man Utd have lost 4 of their last 7 league matches

Man Utd have failed to score in 5 of their last 9 matches

Man Utd have and 6 and lost 4 of their 10 home league matches this term

Tottenham have conceded 12 goals in 5 EPL matches without Romero

Tottenham have lost 4 of their last 6 matches vs Man Utd

Verdict

This should be a game full of goals. Spurs will attack and United’s defence looks leaky. Backing the goals markets feels like the safest path to take.

Best Bet: Over 3.5 goals at 2.10

Alternative Bet: Tottenham win/draw double chance + Over 2.5 goals at 2.80

James O'Connor

James is a football analyst who writes about the tactics of the PSL and English Premier League. He holds the UEFA A coaching licence and has previously worked for several clubs in analysis roles.Twitter: https://twitter.com/footy_analysis