Tottenham Hotspur overcame Manchester United in the Europa League final in May, allowing them to end their 17-year wait to add to the trophy cabinet, but a lot has changed since then and those currently at Hotspur Way and Old Trafford are preparing to lock horns again in north London on Saturday.
Spurs, who now have head coach Thomas Frank at the helm instead of the sacked Ange Postecoglou, are heading into the contest sitting in the Premier League's top six and will be looking to return to winning ways domestically after being condemned to a narrow defeat by rivals Chelsea last weekend.
Manchester United have embarked on a four-match unbeaten run, with their last defeat coming at Brentford in September, after boss Ruben Amorim has overseen an upturn in form. The Red Devils chief, like his opposite number, has a selection headache ahead of their meeting at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Tottenham Team News
Mohammed Kudus is in a race against time to prove his fitness after injury resulted in him missing the Champions League victory over Copenhagen earlier this week, but Lucas Bergvall is a certainty to not be on the pitch as Tottenham are continuing to follow concussion protocols after he was forced off against Chelsea.
Yves Bissouma, Ben Davies, Radu Dragusin, Archie Gray, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Dominic Solanke and Kota Takai are all still sidelined, but captain Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie returned to action earlier this week and are in contention to start the clash with Manchester United.
Although Brennan Johnson was sent off against Copenhagen, his ban will only come into play in Europe, meaning he is eligible to be involved on this occasion. He is expected to start if Kudus and Randal Kolo Muani - who pocket a combined total of £300,000-per-week before bonuses - are on the bench.
Frank, speaking in his pre-match press conference, confirmed that Romero and Udogie will be in the matchday squad against Manchester United. But Kudus is in a race against time to prove his fitness and Solanke will not return to contention until after the international break. The Danish tactician said:
"Cuti and Destiny responded well. They are fit and available. Kudus is touch and go - we'll see. The international break will be key [for Solanke]. It was clear he was not ready before. We will look after the international break. That was what we aimed for. It's important that we get [the timing] right."
Tottenham Predicted XI
Tottenham Predicted XI: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence; Bentancur, Palhinha; Johnson, Simons, Odobert, Richarlison.
Tottenham Predicted Substitutes: Kinsky (GK), Udogie (DEF), Danso (DEF), Olusesi (MID), Sarr (MID), Kudus (MID), Tel (FWD), Kolo Muani (FWD), Scarlett (FWD).
Man Utd Team News
Lisandro Martinez is pushing to be involved in the matchday squad for the first time since suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury during a defeat to Crystal Palace in February, while fellow central defender Harry Maguire returned to the bench for the stalemate with Nottingham Forest last weekend.
The England international and Mason Mount - who are on contracts worth a combined total of £340,000-per-week before bonuses - are expected to be named among the substitutes for Manchester United's trip to north London.
Amorim, speaking in his pre-match press conference, confirmed that Manchester United do not have any fresh injury concerns and he feels that failing to qualify for Europe has resulted in there being fewer members of the squad on the treatment table. He said:
"No, there’s no change [to what we are doing about injuries]. It’s one game every week and then a little bit of luck, because sometimes you have problems with players with knocks, it’s not something that is soft tissues.
"So you never know what is going to happen in the next training. If you play with intensity in training, something can happen, but I think the big reason is [we have only] one game every week.
"You can give one extra day to the players that you know could struggle in the next training. I think that is the biggest reason."
Man Utd Predicted XI