Ahead of Wednesday's all-Premier League UEFA Europa League final, football writer Adrian Clarke takes a closer look at some of the key areas where the match could be decided.
Match analysis: Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United
Spurs and Man Utd will put their nightmare domestic campaigns to one side in Bilbao on Wednesday evening in one of the biggest crossroads matches we have seen in years.
The winner will save their season by lifting a major trophy and qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.
The loser will return to England with nothing but bad memories from a disastrous 2024/25.
Will Spurs ditch 'Ange ball' in Bilbao?
Spurs' journey to the final has borne witness to an unexpected tactical transformation from Ange Postecoglou.
The Australian is famously stubborn whenever questioned over his footballing ideology, but made a surprise U-turn in a bid to reach the final.
Postecoglou effectively ditched his attacking, possession-based approach, swapping it for a cautious low block and direct counter-attacking style of play, to successfully navigate Spurs' way past Eintracht Frankfurt and Bodo/Glimt with game plans that were previously alien to him.
Spurs limited two strong opponents to very little in the way of clear-cut opportunities by being compact and controlled.
Postecoglou's side enjoyed their lowest-ever possession figure under him - just 31.6 per cent - in what could have been a hazardous second leg on an artificial pitch, while also recording their lowest Expected Goals Against (xGA) in an away game (0.26) during his tenure.
Spurs' 2024/25 Europa League stats
Possession % xGA PL average 55.25% 1.68 Bodo/Glimt (H) 41.14% 0.26 Bodo/Glint (A) 31.16% 0.43 Eintracht Frankfurt (A) 36.60% 0.91
Spurs did beat Man Utd 1-0 when they last met in February, claiming a 55.7 per cent share of possession, but with so much at stake on Spanish soil, it feels more likely the north Londoners will continue with this unforeseen pragmatism.
Boosted by their best back five
One other noticeable factor, aside from Postecoglou’s strategic restraint, was that he was able to name his first-choice back five in both legs of the Europa League quarter and semi-finals.
When Guglielmo Vicario has Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie ahead of him, Spurs always look more solid.
The sight of this quintet starting together in Bilbao will offer supporters reassurance, not least because their track record is impressive.
In all competitions this season, these five players have been named in the starting XI on only 12 occasions, winning seven times.
The win percentage leaps from 40.9 to 58.9 per cent when they play together, and the goals against column is significantly healthier.
Spurs let in 0.8 goals a game with this unit in place, compared to 1.6 if at least one of them is missing from the start.
Spurs' win rate with and without best back five
With all five starting With some starting Without all five starting Matches 12 44 2 Wins 7 18 0 Draws 2 6 0 Lost 3 20 2 Goals for 24 79 0 Ave. goals for 2.0 1.8 0 Goals conc. 10 69 6 Ave. goals against 0.8 1.6 3.0 Win % 58.3% 40.9% 0%
Fernandes is Man Utd's talisman
No player in Europa League history has made as many assists (19) or direct goal involvements (46) as Man Utd captain Bruno Fernandes.
The Portuguese playmaker loves this competition, and particularly the latter stages.
He has created more chances than anyone else in the Europa League knockout rounds, with 32 goal involvements from 33 appearances after the group stage.
Fernandes can be relied upon to deliver big moments in the matches that matter most and could be the most influential player on the pitch on Wednesday.
Fernandes' stats in Europa League knockout rounds
Total Rank Goals 19 =2nd Assists 13 1st Goal involvements 32 1st Total chances created 94 1st Chances created from open-play 66 2nd
Where will Fernandes fit in?
It is probable that Fernandes will start in central midfield alongside either Casemiro or Manuel Ugarte with Mason Mount – a player well-liked by Ruben Amorim - and Amad now fully fit.
Man Utd have plenty of options for those two attacking midfield berths as Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho and Joshua Zirkzee are also likely to be available.
Postecoglou will be without James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Lucas Bergvall - Spurs' three most creative midfielders - so their midfield will have more function than flair.
How they handle Fernandes’ craft and attacking ambition is sure to have a major say in the outcome of this final.
A look at these stats from the Premier League will confirm how important he is.
Man Utd attacking stats 24/25
Fernandes Amad Garnacho Chances created 88 47 37 Big chances created 15 7 4 Goals and assists 17 13 8
How have Spurs beaten Man Utd three times in 24/25?
Spurs' fast starts has been the key to three successive victories over Man Utd this season.
Postecoglou’s side have scored inside the opening 15 minutes in each contest and have not trailed for a single second, leading for a remarkable 90.2 per cent of the total game time.
The Red Devils may have to ready themselves for another positive early spell from Spurs, having been caught cold several times already.
Across the three meetings Spurs have created the most openings, and by some distance been the deadlier of the two sides.
Postecoglou will drill the value of driving down the flanks into his players.
In the absence of the guile supplied by Maddison and Kulusevski, Spurs will be more reliant on direct attacks and dynamic running.
If they continue with this new, more pragmatic style of play, you suspect the quality of their quickly constructed attacks will rise in importance.
It is easy to see why Spurs will look to hurt United in this manner when you look at some of the goals they have scored against them this season.
Van de Ven's astonishing mazy run and cross for Brennan Johnson completely undid their opponents early in September's 3-0 win at Old Trafford.
Van de Ven's assist v Man Utd
In the same game Johnson raced down the right before finding Kulusevski with a square ball for Spurs' second goal.
Kulusevski also finished off a move that began with a 2v1 overload on the wide left involving Son Heung-min and Djed Spence in Spurs' 4-3 EFL Cup success.
Spurs will be up against a back three that may on occasion have gaps between the wide centre-backs and wing-backs, so Postecoglou's men will look to power into these areas with the ball at their feet, flashing crosses along the face of goal.
Johnson and Dominic Solanke are two individuals who love to get on the end of these types of situations.
Both are penalty box poachers, as the number of close-range chances - and goals scored - in Premier League action is reflected below.
Solanke v Hojlund
Solanke should be a key man for Postecoglou in this huge game.
He has scored four goals in his last six appearances, as well as three in three outings against Man Utd this season.
Tactically, Solanke’s incessant off-the-ball movement will also be needed to disrupt Man Utd’s back three.
The runs he makes will have to be smart to drag defenders out of position with no obvious No 10 playing off him in close proximity.
Interestingly, the only Premier League forward who makes more off the ball runs per 90 minutes than Solanke, is Man Utd striker Rasmus Hojlund.
PL forwards with most off-the-ball runs 24/25
Forwards Off-the-ball runs per 90* Rasmus Hojlund (MUN) 35.22 Dominic Solanke (TOT) 34.91 Nicolas Jackson (CHE) 32.01
*Minimum 20 starts
He may have had a tough time in front of goal this season, but Hojlund is a front man that is always on the move.
There is not a great deal to choose between them in terms of conversion rates in league action, with Solanke’s 13.56 per cent just above Hojlund on 12.9 per cent.
Could either be the match winner? Potentially. But with so many other factors at play, this is a crossroads contest that feels incredibly hard to predict.