Tottenham knows another defeat will throw them away from Champions League contention as they welcome top-four rivals Manchester United at their stadium.
TOT vs MUN Match Details
Date: Thursday 27 April 2023, Friday 28 April 2023
Time: 20:15 (BST), 00:45 (IST)
Venue: Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, London
TOT vs MUN Match Preview
A catastrophic week for Tottenham Hotspurs as they first lose their managing director Christian Stelleni stepping down from his role due to the ongoing ban, went on to lose 6-1 against Newcastle at the weekend and then fired caretaker boss Christian Stelleni for the result. The disastrous part of the defeat in the battle for the top four was the positional switch from three at the back to four for the first time in 15 months led to a total collapse for the side. The Magpies played with the Tottenham defense as the away side found themselves 3-0 down inside 10 minutes and 5-0 within 20 with Jacob Murphy and Alexander Isak both scoring quick-fire brace and a Joelinton strike in-between. Davinson Sanchez, who was booed off in the defeat to Bournemouth, was brought in after that to revert to back three which worked only for Newcastle missing other opportunities to score. Harry Kane pulled one back after the break although it was deemed useless as substitute Callum Wilson scored the seventh and the last goal of the game. With Ryan Mason taking the charge now, he has a huge task in hand to close down the ever-widening gap for the Champions League places with Manchester United and Liverpool to face in back-to-back games. They are also in real danger of losing out on European football completely with Aston Villa also overtaking them to the Europa League spot with their win over Fulham. If that is not all, Spurs have lost their last four meetings with United making it difficult for the start of the renaissance hoped for.
Visitors Manchester United were involved in the FA Cup action instead of making it into the final of the competition by beating Brighton 7-6 in a sensational penalty shoot in the semi-final at Wembley. Chances fell to both sides in the 120 minutes of an even game but neither managed to convert those leading to penalties. Solly March missed the crucial spot-kick in the sudden death while Victor Lindelof tucked away the winning one for the Red Devils. It sets up a Manchester derby with City in the June showpiece but most importantly helped them recover from the shocking 3-0 Europa League exit against Sevilla only days back. As a case, the record Premier League winners will be in a jubilant mood entering into the midweek clash with a three-game winning streak in the league. Facing a top-four rival in Spurs, United’s aim is to regain the third place from Newcastle, level on points but ahead on goal difference, also extending a huge nine points gap with the sixth-placed hosts on the evening. Having won 39 games in this fixture, no side have ever managed more against an opponent in the Premier League, Erik ten Hag’s side will be quite optimistic about it. The only concern will be Bruno Fernandes’ fitness who has combined for four goals in the last six meetings against the Lilywhites. Considering the difficult situation Tottenham find themselves in and Manchester United facing a tough pair of games against in-form sides Aston Villa and Brighton in successive games in the Premier League, a victory is a must-have for either side in this huge clash for their Champions League football chase.
Recent Form (all competitions)
MUN: DLWDW
Recent Form (Premier League)
TOT: LLWDD
MUN: WWWLW
TOT vs MUN Team News
Ben Davies and Clement Lenglet were unused substitutes in the humbling at St James’ Park with the former in line now to begin this midweek clash. The Welsh international missed five weeks with a hamstring problem while the Barcelona loanee shake off a slight problem he picked up in the last home game. Goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris, who was withdrawn at half-time due to a hip injury and after conceding five goals in 21 minutes, is a doubt for this pivotal clash with Fraser Forster to fill in if he is not ready. Lucas Moura is available again after suspension but Ryan Mason is unlikely to make any changes to the front three of Dejan Kulusevski, Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son.
The major injury concern for Manchester United from the energy-draining win over Brighton in the FA Cup semi-final is Bruno Fernandes who took a knock in the first half of normal time but carried on till the first period of extra time before being substituted. The game against Spurs comes quick to recover although his availability is not ruled out. The Portuguese have not missed out on any Premier League game with injury problems, the only other time he was ruled out in the competition was in 2020 with Covid-19 coincidentally against Spurs. Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, Donny van de Beek, Alejandro Garnacho, Tom Heaton, Scott McTominay and Phil Jones all remain out.
TOT vs MUN Predicted Lineups
TOT: Fraser Forster; Christian Romero, Eric Dier, Ben Davies; Pedro Porro, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oliver Skipp, Ivan Perisic; Dejan Kulusevski, Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son
MUN: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw, Diogo Dalot; Casemiro, Christian Eriksen; Antony, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford; Anthony Martial
TOT vs MUN Head to Head
TOT won - 53
Drawn - 49
MUN won - 96
(In overall meetings)
TOT vs MUN Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: De Gea (8)
DEF: Wan-Bissaka (7), Shaw (7.5), Dalot (8)
MID: Kulusevski (8), B Fernandes (9), Hojbjerg (8.5), Antony (8.5)
FW: Rashford (9), Kane (9), Son (9)
Vice-captain: Harry Kane
Captain: Bruno Fernandes
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