5 key battles to win if Man Utd are to beat Spurs

Manchester United travel down to the capital on Sunday to face Tottenham Hotspur at their temporary home to Wembley.

Spurs head into the weekend in third position having won six of their previous seven Premier League matches whilst we have won all five of our games under caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side were in action on Tuesday night as they beat Chelsea 1-0 in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final whilst we have not played since our 2-0 win over Reading in the FA Cup last Saturday.

Should Ole want to continue his winning streak as United boss here are three battles we’re going to have to win at Wembley Stadium on Sunday:

1. Phil Jones & Victor Lindelof vs Harry Kane

Harry Kane has scored in each of his past four Premier League outings and even came on for the final 15 minutes of Spurs’ FA Cup tie at Tranmere Rovers to bag a goal in a 7-0 win. Eric Bailly has had the England striker in his pocket previously but our centre-back is suspended for this one. We’re relying on Phil Jones and Victor Lindelof to prevent the Spurs hitman from finding the back of the net this weekend.

2. Anthony Martial & Marcus Rashford vs Tottenham’s defence

At the other end of the pitch, Marcus Rashford has scored in three of his four Premier League appearances under Ole and is expected to keep Romelu Lukaku out of the starting lineup again on Sunday. Hopefully we’ll be able to unlock Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez in the middle of their defence to create chances for our striker. Anthony Martial is another goalscoring option for us out on the left and should look to exploit space left behind by Kieran Trippier pushing forward. If we’re to find the back of the net at Wembley you can expect one of these two to be on the scoresheet.

3. Ander Herrera vs Christian Eriksen

If we’re to cut off the supply to Harry Kane and Son Heung-min then Ander Herrera needs to stick close to Christian Eriksen and keep the Dane quiet for 90 minutes. Herrera has done a good job of this in the past versus top players so lets hope Ole gives the Spaniard the duty of man-marking Spurs’ playmaker closely on Sunday.

4. Paul Pogba vs Moussa Sissoko

Mauricio Pochettino is running out of options in holding midfield as Eric Dier, Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama are all currently injured. Moussa Sissoko received a lot of criticism in his first two years at Tottenham but is having a good third season in North London. Paul Pogba has been excellent under Solskjaer and was even awarded the Premier League Player of the Month award for December. As was the case under Jose, if the 2018 World Cup winner shows up then there’s a good chance of us winning. He certainly has the capability of getting the better of this matchup.

5. Luke Shaw vs Son Heung-min

Son Heung-min has scored seven goals in his previous six Premier League matches and this is his final game before he meets up with South Korea for the Asian Cup. Pochettino has played him all across the front for Tottenham so it could be a job for several of our defenders to keep the forward quiet on Sunday. If he plays out on the right then that responsibility will largely lie with Luke Shaw.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United betting tips

Manchester United have won all five games under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Victory at Tottenham would boost our top four credentials. We are 51/20 to beat Spurs with BetUK.

Anthony Martial has scored a winner for us in the past against Tottenham. The French forward is 21/10 to score anytime with BetUK.

Both teams have been scoring for fun lately. The bookmakers are expecting us to maintain that run as the odds are 4/7 for both teams to score with BetUK.