With the Europa League final only a few hours away, Rio Ferdinand is unable to back Manchester United over Tottenham in his Europa League final prediction.
The stage is set. later this evening, Tottenham Hotspur will lock horns with fellow English side Manchester United in Spain at the San Mames Stadium in the UEFA Europa League final.
The two sides are fully aware of just how crucial a win would be, especially given their dismal domestic campaigns, with Man United sitting 16th and Tottenham 17th in the Premier League table.
It is certainly not an easy tie to call, yet unsurprisingly, several pundits have had their say. Paul Scholes believes Tottenham can beat Manchester United, but he remains confident his former side will get the job done.
Rio Ferdinand unsure as Tottenham and Manchester United clash in Europa League final
Owen Hargreaves believes Manchester United’s European pedigree should be enough to see them through. Michael Dawson has gone the other way, predicting a comfortable Tottenham win, while Harry Redknapp has backed Spurs to get the better of Man United.
However, former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has refused to stick his neck out. The ex-England international has admitted he simply cannot pick a winner, citing the staggering inconsistency shown by both sides this season.
Speaking on Optus Sport, he said: “I have to be honest, I cannot call a Manchester United result – they are so inconsistent, or they have consistently been bad in the Premier League.
MORE SPURS STORIES
“But the fact they are playing against Spurs, another consistently bad team in the Premier League, but they have players who can win a match.
“It makes it such a hard game to call. I think Manchester United have not done enough this season for me to go convincingly, ‘right, they will win this game’ – at any point I have not felt like that, other than maybe against Leicester.
“So to call this game will be difficult. I think it is a huge opportunity for both clubs, but for Manchester United I think the manager has been very open about putting all of his eggs in one basket.”
Tottenham edge head-to-head but Micky van de Ven plays down favourites tag
Indeed, both sides have been frustratingly inconsistent all season, and their respective Premier League positions only reinforce that fact.
However, when assessing the head-to-head record over their last six meetings, Tottenham appear to have a slight edge, as they remain unbeaten against Manchester United in that run.
This season alone, Tottenham have recorded three wins over United – a 3-0 thrashing at Old Trafford, a 1-0 victory in the reverse league fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and a thrilling 4-3 triumph in the Carabao Cup, also in north London.
While Spurs may take confidence from those results, defender Micky van de Ven has been quick to play down the significance of previous victories.
He said: “I would not say it is an advantage because it is games in the past, so this is a game, it is a final and I know in a final anything can happen. We won three times against them so hopefully we can do the same thing for the final.”