Jose Mourinho will return to Old Trafford for the first time as Tottenham Hotspur boss on Wednesday. The Special One was sacked by Manchester United almost a year ago, and will be desperate to register a positive result against his former club.
Spurs are yet to taste defeat under Mourinho as the Portuguese has overseen three straight victories since replacing Mauricio Pochettino.
Mourinho’s reign began with a 3-2 victory over West Ham. Tottenham then beat Olympiacos in the Champions League, before securing another 3-2 victory last time out.
Spurs flew into a 3-0 lead against Bournemouth in the previous round. A brace from Dele Alli and a rare Moussa Sissoko goal appeared to put Tottenham in complete control. However, two late goals from Harry Wilson took the gloss off the scoreline.
Mourinho has lifted Spurs up to fifth in the Premier League standings, but his team’s lack of defensive solidity is a cause for concern.
On the other hand, Manchester United are in ninth – two points behind Tottenham. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have a record of W4/D6/L4 in the league this season, and this is viewed by many as a substandard return for a club of Man Utd’s stature.
The Red Devils come into this match on the back of consecutive draws. A 3-3 thriller with Sheffield United was followed by a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa in their last outing. On both occasions, Man Utd came from behind to lead, but then failed to hold onto their advantage.
Solskjaer will be looking to Marcus Rashford to provide the team’s goals against Spurs. The England forward is in a rich vein of form and has netted four goals in his last six top-flight appearances.
Proud to be named @ManUtd Player of the Month for November. Fully focused on Spurs... let’s go 👊🏿 pic.twitter.com/eLvQJzejlo— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) December 3, 2019
Proud to be named @ManUtd Player of the Month for November. Fully focused on Spurs... let’s go 👊🏿 pic.twitter.com/eLvQJzejlo
Still, key players like Paul Pogba, Eric Bailly and Scott McTominay are all major doubts for Wednesday’s clash as they continue to recover from injury.
Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Son Heung-min are all firing in front of goal for Spurs at the moment. However, first-choice goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has been a big miss for the team recently, and the Frenchman isn’t likely to feature until next year.
The head-to-head record between Man Utd and Spurs has been extremely mixed in recent years. Each side has claimed four victories in the last eight meetings between the two teams, so it’s difficult to pick a winner this time around.
For that reason, Forebet predicts that this game will end level. Both team’s defensive records are poor, so expect to see plenty of goals.