Tottenham vs Manchester United Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Haydn Cunningham Apr 06, 2016 @ 08:54 pm

Mauricio Pochettino couldn’t have asked more from his squad in the Premier League this season as they sit in 2^nd place. Only Leicester’s fairy-tale story has prevented them from leading the table but they’ll be determined to close the 7 point gap with just 6 games to go. They’re currently going through their worst run of the season with just 2 victories in their last 7. It has been a difficult March for Tottenham with 2 legs against Borussia Dortmund and also London derbies against Arsenal and West Ham. Pochettino’s men have started off April with a respectable draw at Liverpool but you could see by the manager’s reaction at the end of the game that it was 2 points lost in the race for the title as opposed to 1 point gained. 

Louis Van Gaal has sparked a mini-turnaround at Manchester United after following up their derby victory over Manchester City before the international break with another gritty victory over Everton. Anthony Martial scored the decisive goal at Old Trafford and he is now United’s leading Premier League goal scorer with 8 goals. Only Stoke City have scored less goals in the top half of the table and their inability to score goals could well play a factor in their final position in the league if goal difference is taken into consideration. United boast a +8 goal difference which is considerably lower than Tottenham (+32), Arsenal (+22) and Manchester City (+24). The media are still linking Jose Mourinho with the United job at the end of the season but LVG will firmly improving on last years position of 4^th and an FA Cup winners medal could well see him into the final year of his 3-year contract.

Tottenham haven’t fired on all cylinders when facing United in recent meetings as they’ve hit a blank in the past 3 matches. They met on the opening day of the season and United were very fortunate to come away with a 1-0 victory. Harry Kane scored his 22^nd Premier League goal of the season against Liverpool but has never scored against United and are just one of a few Premier League sides he’s failed to get the better of. 

Tottenham’s biggest absentees are Erik Lamela and Jan Verthongen. The latter is still a while away from returning but Lamela could make the squad. Luke Shaw and Wayne Rooney have recently returned to light training which is very good news for Louis Van Gaal and also Roy Hodgson. Another Englishmen to make his return from injury is Ashley Young who played in the development sides match against Chelsea midweek.

Tottenham

Stats: W-17 L-4 D-11

Recent Form – DWLWL

Manchester United

Stats: W-15 L-8 D-8                                          

Recent Form - WWDDL

Head-to-head record:

Possible Line-ups

West Ham (4-2-3-1) – Lloris, Walker, Wimmer, Alderweireld, Rose, Dier, Dembele, Eriksen, Alli, Lamela, Kane

Manchester United (4-2-3-1) – De Gea, Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Rojo, Carrick, Schneiderlin, Lingard, Mata, Martial, Rashford

Injury List/Suspended Players

Tottenham – Verthongen (inj), N’Jie (inj), Bentaleb (inj)

Manchester United – Rooney (inj), Shaw (inj), Jones (inj), Schweinsteiger (inj)

League Positions