Tied for the Premier League vice-presidency in 2017/2018, Manchester United and Tottenham open on Saturday, October 28, the tenth round of the English Premier League. In Old Tradfford, Manchester, the match starts scheduled for 9:30 am (GMT).
The recent performance of Manchester United
United had their undefeated 12-game winning streak (ten wins and two draws) cut short on their nine-match day. In front of the rookie Huddersfield, away from home, lost 2: 1. With that, he was parked in the 20 points (six wins, two draws and a loss), and saw Manchester City, who beat Burnley 3-0, open five points ahead in the lead.
The reaction did not take long. It arrived on Tuesday, October 24, in the last 16 of the League Cup of England. In Welsh, Manchester United’s reigning champions continued their bid for a 2-0 win at Swansea.
The result, however, has little meaning. First for being in the competition that is considered of lesser importance among the English. Then, having the opponent put in the field a team practically reserve, since its priority objective is to fight against the relegation in the Premier League.
Mourinho resorted to the same strategy putting in the field only two players who can be considered titular of his team. Generally the Portuguese coach is averse to this type of attitude, but the duel against Tottenham made him choose to preserve the athletes he considers most important.
In addition, the coach still awaits news from the medical department. Defenders Eric Bertrand Bailly (six matches in the 2017/2018 English League season, one goal) and Marco Rojo (no performances) are on the ward in injury treatment; and Michael Carrick (without performances), Marouane Fellaini (six games, three goals) and Paul Pogba (four games, two goals). However, according to what has been reported in the English press, it is unlikely that any of them will be released for the duel this Saturday.
The current form of Tottenham
Tottenham came on the field later in the fourth round of the League Cup of England and had a London classic against West Ham as a compromise on Wednesday, October 25. It was eliminated by taking 3-2.
As did practically all the technicians of the teams of tip of England, Mauricio Pochettino opted to send a reserve team to face the rival. After all, Tottenham also split up between the English Championship and the Champions League matches in England. It goes very well in both.
In the continental tournament, it divides the leadership of its group with Real Madrid and is very close to the classification for the eighth finals. In the national competition, it managed in the ninth round its fourth consecutive victory with a thrashing of 4 to 1 before Liverpool. The result took him to 20 points (six wins, two draws and a loss) putting him on an equal footing with Manchester United. The team only appears in the third position of the table when the tiebreaker criteria are taken into account.
Leveraging outside their domains, which was a problem the previous season, has not been an issue this year. Tottenham have won all four of their matches and appear alongside Manchester City as the most efficient visitor. In this case, it takes advantage of even when the tiebreaker criteria are used, once he made 12 goals, an exact average of three per game, and suffered only one.
Pochettino, unlike his rival, does not have many medical problems to administer. Only two athletes are in injury treatment. They are the socks Mousa Dembelé (four games in the version 2017/2018 of the Premier League, without goal) and Victor Wanyama (two games, without goal). Although they are used frequently, they can not be considered fundamental athletes for the team.
History of the matches Manchester United vs Tottenham
In the last two seasons the field factor was decisive in the duel. In 2015/2016, Tottenham scored 3-0 in London and took 1 to 0 in Manchester. In 2016/2017, United scored 1-0 at Old Tradfford and lost 2-1 to the English capital.
PREDICTION: DRAW @ 3.30
