Tottenham welcome Manchester United to North London on Saturday for the last game before the international break.
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It’s been a great Autumn period for Ruben Amorim and Manchester United, as since the October international break, they have won two of their three games, and drawn the other. The most recent was that draw, which came against Nottingham Forest, to end a three-game winning streak.
Amorim’s side is now just one point off the top four in the Premier League, and on course for a much-improved season compared to last year. They face familiar opponents on Saturday as they will make the trip to play Tottenham in a re-match of last year’s Europa League Final.
Thomas Frank has had a decent start to life at Spurs, with his side also on 17 points after 10 games, like United. However, in those 10 games, only one of their five wins has come at home, and that was on the first day of the season against newly-promoted Burnley.
Tottenham address horrific home form in Champions League
Over the weekend, Spurs lost 1-0 to Chelsea in what was simply an abysmal showing from Frank’s side. They were booed off after the game, and the Tottenham fans weren’t happy that they continued to not show their best form in front of the North London faithful.
However, on Tuesday night, Tottenham played against Danish side Copenhagen at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Champions League, and it was arguably their best game of the season. Spurs took the lead after 19 minutes thanks to Brennan Johnson, before making it 2-0 in the 51st minute, thanks to Wilson Odobert.
But, after that, Johnson was sent off in the 57th minute, and the Spurs fans will have been thinking ‘here we go again’. But, instead, Tottenham scored two more goals in the following 10 minutes to make it 4-0, and showed that they can play at their best at home, which is a worrying sign for United.
It seems that Frank may have addressed their major problem of playing at home, and Ruben Amorim will now need to make sure his side is best prepared to play against ‘the good Tottenham’ on Saturday.
Man United have an advantage over Spurs
The biggest issue from a Tottenham perspective is their ever-increasing injury list. As things stand, eight Tottenham players have been ruled out of Saturday’s game with injury concerns, and three others are in doubt.
Lucas Bergvall, Djed Spence, and Mohammed Kudus are all being assessed ahead of Saturday, as they could miss the game too, which would be a huge bonus for Amorim and his Man United squad.
The Red Devils will be without just one player on Saturday, too, as Lisandro Martinez continues to recover from his ACL injury that he suffered last year. So, Frank may have fixed the playing at home issue, but he will have another one...squad fitness and availability.