Struggling with scoring goals, Manchester United faces injury marooning Tottenham Hotspurs team for a fifth against the third battle at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils came close but not enough to score amid controversies in the 0-0 stalemate against Newcastle while Tottenham managed to win 2-0 against a stout Everton side.
MUN vs TOT Match Details
Date: Wednesday, 19 October 2022 / Thursday, 20 October 2022
Time: 20:15 (BST) / 00:45 (IST)
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester
MUN vs TOT Match Preview
Scoring goals became a major issue for Manchester United once again in the goalless draw against Newcastle United in a game the home side will feel hard done by some of the referee decisions. Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to replicate something similar to his second debut for the club in this fixture at this ground and from a free-kick situation in the second half seemingly taken by Newcastle, he took the ball away from Nick Pope to roll it into the empty net but the official had a different view of it. To the fury of United players and supporters the goal was not awarded with the FA also charging the club for players surrounding the referee aggressively. Few close penalty calls were waved away although Newcastle too could have got one in the opening half when Callum Wilson looked to have tripped by Raphael Varane in the box before Joelinton struck the crossbar and then the post simultaneously in just seconds. Fred and then Marcus Rashford spurned opportunities with the goal at their mercy later in the game to pile more misery on themselves. With a tough set of games coming up, Tottenham to kick things off and followed by a trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea and then West Ham before the end of the month, Erik Ten Hag have to pull out a solution to get his forwards firing goal even though they scored in eight straight games prior to facing the Toons. United have won more narrowly than handsomely this season with 1-0 wins and a few 2-1s not a way to build a pattern on for a club of this stature. Their 3-1 win over Arsenal and 6-3 defeat to Manchester City was the only time they managed to score more than twice. Facing Spurs in the midweek clash staying at Old Trafford, Manchester United could only hope to repeat the victories registered against sides visiting them this season who were placed above them on the table at that moment. Any win will take the Red Devils on the same points with fourth-place Chelsea momentarily ahead of facing the Blues in the coming week in another pivotal clash at Stamford Bridge.
However, the winning nature of Antonio Conte's men even in their vulnerable state will worry Erik Ten Hag’s side. Spurs found it tough to break a stringent Everton defense at the weekend with dangerous counter-attacks in their arsenal and needed a Jordan Pickford spill then fouling Harry Kane in the box to get an opening. Scoring his ninth of the season and 257th of his Spurs career from the spot-kick, Kane rose to rescue his team again before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg made sure of the win with his strike in the 86th minute. Conte's pragmatic approach may not look neat in the eye but Spurs gets the job done as denoted by their only one loss, in the North-London derby earlier this month, of the last 16 Premier League games. The Lilywhites now sit third on the table after the victory over the Toffees trailing first-placed Arsenal only by four points. They could narrow it done to only one if a similar result follows at Old Trafford overtaking Manchester City, level on points with 23, in the second spot after the holder’s 1-0 loss to Liverpool at the weekend. However, Spurs have struggled on their trip to face Manchester United only managing two wins in the last seven such meetings. Antonio Conte's men have also not looked that great on the travels this season too with only two wins from five matches. They lost to Arsenal 3-1 at the Emirates and drew 2-2 away against Chelsea earlier in the campaign before this battle with Manchester United. Losing Kulusevski and Richarlison through injuries will be difficult but the scoring boots of Harry Kane and Son could speak otherwise. Spurs have also been defensively sounded with captain Hugo Lloris keeping four clean sheets in 10 matches, joint second-best in the league this season. Antonio Conte could use a similar strategy to that of Newcastle in allowing Manchester United to have more possession of the ball and hitting them on the counter with the pace and precision of the frontline.
Recent Form (all competitions)
MUN: DWWWL
TOT: WWWDL
Recent Form (league)
MUN: DWLWW
TOT: WWLWW
MUN vs TOT Team News
Anthony Martial remains unavailable for Manchester United with the Frenchman able to get back on the pitch but not in team training. Christian Eriksen has returned to team training after missing out on the 0-0 in the squad through illness and needs late assessment to get involved in the game. If the Dane doesn’t make it, Scott Mc Tominay is expected to partner Casemiro after serving his one-match suspension and replacing Fred in the process. Harry Maguire, Donny van de Beek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have made good progress from their injuries and they will return to training this week. Brandon Williams and Axel Tuanzebe are out for an unknown period of time. Cristiano Ronaldo was substituted 20 minutes from time which Erik Ten Hag said to give him a rest amidst the fixture pile-up. The Portuguese scored a hat-trick in this fixture last season and will be wishing to get into the starting eleven again. However, Marcus Rashford made a struck difference to United’s attack after replacing the 37-year-old giving a real selection headache to the Dutch manager.
Tottenham have suffered a massive injury blow ahead of the clash at Old Trafford with Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski both sidelined. Kulusevski suffered a setback in recovery from his hamstring injury whereas the Brazilian picked up a calf injury in the 2-0 win against his former club Everton. He also faces the prospect of missing the World Cup starting in a month’s time. The lack of options upfront could prompt Antonio Conte to deploy a 3-5-2, the other formation he has worked with earlier, with Yves Bissouma coming into the midfield three. Although, Conte has revealed he might stick to his original 3-4-3 plan with Ivan Perisic pairing with Harry Kane and Son in the front three. The Croatian has played as a forward or a winger for most parts of his career and the boss will make the best decision after a late training session. Matt Doherty continues to be in the right wing-back spot as Emerson Royal serves the last of his three-match ban.
MUN vs TOT Predicted Lineups
MUN: De Gea; Diogo Dalot, Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw; Casemiro, Scott McTominay; Antony, Bruno Fernandes, Jadon Sancho; Marcus Rashford
TOT: Hugo Lloris; Christian Romero, Eric Dier, Ben Davies; Matt Doherty, Hojbjerg, Yves Bissouma, Rodrigo Bentancur, Ivan Perisic; Son, Harry Kane
MUN vs TOT Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Lloris (7)
DEF: Dalot (8), Romero (8), Dier (8.5), Martinez (7.5)
MID: Fernandes (9), Hojbjerg (9), Antony (8.5)
FW: Rashford (9), Kane (9), Son (9)
Vice-captain: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
Captain: Harry Kane
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