Third meets fifth in a tense Premier League clash at Old Trafford on Wednesday, as Manchester United looks to return to winning ways against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Red Devils were forced to accept a point in a 0-0 draw with Newcastle United last time out, while Antonio Conte’s men defeated Everton 2-0. Officiating controversy reared its ugly head once more as Man United and Newcastle shared the spoils in Sunday’s goalless stalemate.
By no means was it a dull 0-0 at the Theatre of Dreams, as Joelinton rattled the crossbar twice in the space of a few seconds before Cristiano Ronaldo thought he had scored a perfectly good goal by intercepting Nick Pope’s free kick, but Pawson thought otherwise.
Erik ten Hag must pick up the pieces after his side’s three-game winning streak came to an end on Sunday, as the fifth-placed Red Devils have now fallen three points behind Chelsea after nine games. The Dutchman insisted that there were positives to take from the showdown with Eddie Howe’s side, but even in Man United’s pair of wins versus Omonia and narrow success over Everton.
Man United’s eight-game Premier League scoring streak at Old Trafford was also snapped last week by Newcastle, but only two of their last 17 top-flight games in front of their own fans have ended in defeat, and no team has more than 72 Wednesday victories in the competition.
While Manchester United and Newcastle were left to ponder controversial penalty decisions over the weekend, Tottenham Hotspur were on the right side of one, with Harry Kane taking a tumble over Jordan Pickford and ending his Champions League spot-kick woes to put his side ahead on Saturday evening.
Some thought Kane had gone down too easily under Pickford’s challenge in his 400th appearance for Tottenham, but there was no doubt about Tottenham’s second, as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s strike took a nick off Alex Iwobi and into the back of the net. Officiating controversy reared its ugly head once more in Sunday’s goalless draw between Manchester United and Newcastle, during which neither Jadon Sancho nor Callum Wilson were awarded spot kicks despite presenting strong cases to Craig Pawson.
Antonio Conte’s men had to be patient to break down a tenacious Everton defence, and they were rewarded handsomely for their efforts, moving level on points with Manchester City in third place following the champions’ loss to Liverpool and ensuring their four-point gap to leaders Arsenal remained.
The North London club has now won three consecutive games in all competitions, but rival turf has not been kind to them, as they have only won two of their seven away games in all competitions this season and have only three goals to show for it in their last five on the road.
Ronaldo scored a hat-trick to lead Manchester United to a 3-2 victory in this fixture last season, just months after the Red Devils triggered Nuno Espirito Santo’s sacking with a 3-0 win in North London, and Conte faces a fourth consecutive defeat away to the Red Devils as a manager.
News from the Team
Manchester United
Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Harry Maguire (hamstring), Donny van de Beek and Anthony Martial all missed the draw against Newcastle.
Maguire and Martial are close to returning, and the latter could even force his way back into contention this week, while Martin Dubravka and Scott McTominay will return after missing out on the weekend due to ineligibility and suspension, respectively.
It remains to be seen whether Christian Eriksen will recover from illness in time to face his former club, so McTominay and Casemiro could form the midfield pairing, while Cristiano Ronaldo will look to repeat his hat-trick from last season if he can persuade Ten Hag to keep him in the starting lineup. Marcus Rashford, on the other hand, will have something to say about it.
Tottenham Hotspur
Richarlison suffered a calf injury early in the second half against Everton and was pictured leaving the stadium on crutches, adding to Tottenham’s worries ahead of Wednesday’s game.
Conte has already ruled the Brazilian out of this match due to fears that he will also miss the World Cup, while Dejan Kulusevski is still doubtful following a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, Emerson Royal will serve his third and final game of the suspension, with Matt Doherty continuing to deputize.
Tottenham are expected to change formation due to the injuries to Kulusevski and Richarlison, with Yves Bissouma likely to be introduced into a 3-5-2 formation, while Kane will attempt to become the first Tottenham player in history to score in six consecutive Premier League games.
Conte stated in his pre-game press conference that he wanted to stick with a 3-4-3 formation, with Perisic potentially moving further forward, but it remains to be seen if the 53-year-old was simply playing mind games.
