Last weekend’s dominance over Brentford was Tottenham Hotspur’s best performance of the season — and maybe ever under Ange Postecoglou. After a frustrating start to the league campaign, the win was an important validation that this project can work and that it is truly moving in the right direction. However, one victory cannot be the end of the story; that makes Sunday’s trip to Old Trafford such an intriguing proposition.
The home team arguably needs the result more, but this is a great opportunity for Tottenham to build on three straight wins across three different competitions. It took a couple late efforts against Coventry and a little more excitement than needed against Qarabag, but suddenly all arrows are pointing up for Spurs. Football has a funny way of turning quickly, though, so how Sunday plays out is anyone’s guess.
Manchester United (t-10th, 7pts) vs. Tottenham Hotspur (t-10th, 7pts)
Date: Sunday, September 29
Time: 11:30 am ET, 4:30 pm UK
Location: Old Trafford, Manchester
TV: USA Network (USA), Sky Sports Main Event (UK)
Manchester United is level on points with Spurs, but feels to be in a much worse spot. Erik ten Hag’s side failed to score against Palace last weekend and only mustered a point against Twente in the Europa League on Wednesday. Joshua Zirkzee was the flashy summer signing but has netted just one goal, in the season opener against Fulham.
Tottenham halted its three-match losing streak at Old Trafford in a 2-2 draw last January behind goals from Richarlison and Rodrigo Bentancur. Spurs won 2-0 in London early in the season, which was only the club’s second win in the last five years in this fixture. A draw would probably be a fair outcome, but this feels like a good time to steal an away win.
Living in reality
United and Tottenham sit third and fourth in xG, respectively, but neither is at the top of the league in terms of actual goals scored. This narrative has been beat to death for Spurs, but the Brentford match showed a bit of a different approach, as Postecoglou’s side traded a little possession for higher-quality looks with the ball. The team still has not dominated the score line as much as desired given the way it has controlled matches, but this was a good sign.
In Manchester, the story has been different. ten Hag’s squad has just five goals in five league matches, with Bruno Fernandes the main culprit (17 shots, zero goals). He and Zirkzee are not alone, though, with Alejandro Garnacho, Amad Diallo, and Marcus Rashford far from clinical as well. Both teams simply are not scoring enough, but for different reasons. Whichever team figures out how to overcome their weakness, will have the upper hand Sunday — and perhaps in the top-four race.
Locked in
With this in mind, the key for Tottenham seems to be staunch defensiveness. United is not finishing its big chances, but generates plenty of them, and too often have Spurs given the ball up in dangerous areas. It may only take one moment to derail this contest, and an errant back pass to a centerback (see: first seven minutes against Qarabag) or overly risky play by Guglielmo Vicario could be the difference between three points or not.
United challenged Postecoglou’s high line in their last encounter, and expect that to be the case again. Staying disciplined should frustrate the under-performing United attack and could lead to some counters going the other way (which still seems like Spurs’ preferred method of scoring). Saying this is easier said than done, but there is reason for cautious optimism heading into this big contest.