Who: Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United
Content: English Premier League
Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
When: Saturday 12:30pm (12:30 GMT)
How to follow: All content will be broadcast on Al Jazeera Sports from 09:30 GMT, ahead of a live text commentary stream.
The weekend’s Premier League fixtures begin in north London, with sixth-placed Tottenham Hotspur taking on eighth-placed Manchester United.
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The interim second-placed side will be looking to settle a grudge for Ruben Amorim’s United side after Spurs beat them 1-0 in last season’s Europa League final and the Red Devils were prevented from qualifying for this season’s Champions League.
The hosts are looking to bounce back from last weekend’s home defeat to Chelsea, but the visitors remain unbeaten in their last four Premier League games, including a 2-1 win over champions and arch-rivals Liverpool and a 2-2 draw away at Nottingham Forest last weekend.
Frank is ‘satisfied’ with Spurs’ response to Chelsea defeat
Following last weekend’s dry defeat to Chelsea, Spurs have lost three Premier League games at home this season. Their results at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium over the past 12 months have been even worse, with just four wins, four draws and 12 defeats out of 20 home league games.
Tottenham at least regained some momentum after Spurs beat Copenhagen 4-0 at home to record their biggest win since Thomas Frank took over as manager.
Frank was reluctant to point to the win against his native Denmark side as a turning point after a difficult period with just one win in five games, but was in high spirits ahead of Saturday’s visit from Manchester United.
“We talk a lot about that spirit of resilience, because in life and in football, there are setbacks,” he said.
“Every team goes through that and our reaction is to come out after a bad game or a bad period and bounce back. That’s part of a good team. I’m very happy with the reaction of the players.”
Van de Ven takes revenge with stunning goal
The Tottenham defender’s stunning solo goal during the defeat to Copenhagen drew comparisons to Lionel Messi, and Micky van de Ven has regained support for Frank.
Van de Ven and Jed Spence were forced to apologize to Tottenham manager Frank this week after he ignored his pleas for fans to applaud after Saturday’s defeat to Chelsea.
However, Van de Ven remained in the starting XI and produced a magical moment as he raced down half the pitch to score.
“It’s like Lionel Messi turned into Mickey van de Ven and roared down from his own goal to the opposite goal and scored a great goal,” Frank said.
“I think he’s our top scorer in all competitions, so I think he’ll continue to do that.”
“We’re the better team.”
United lost all four games they played against Tottenham last season, so they don’t need motivation against Spurs.
When asked how United have changed since the Europa League final, Amorim replied: “First of all, the characteristics of the players. So we’re a better team, we play better, we understand the game more. I think we’re more confident.”
“We went into the final with confidence that we could win because we had done well in Europe, but at this moment we are playing with a different confidence.
“We can manage the moments of the game well, but you remember that game, they got a shot on goal and won the game.
“So I expect it to be a different game. We will play better, but a little bit of luck will also help us win the game.”
Amorim refutes Ronaldo criticism
Cristiano Ronaldo, who won eight titles with United, said this week that United were “not going in the right direction” after a disastrous season in which the Red Devils finished 15th, and warned Amorim was “not going to perform miracles” at Old Trafford.
Amorim, who replaced Erik ten Hag in November 2024, hit back by urging fans and critics to look forward rather than dwelling on the past.
“Of course, everything he says has great influence,” Amorim said Thursday.
“What we have to focus on is the future. We know as a club we’ve made a lot of mistakes in the past, but we’re trying to change that. So instead of focusing on what happened, let’s focus on what we’re doing now. Let’s focus on what we’re doing now.”
“We’re changing a lot of things: the structure, the way we do things, the way we want our players to behave. We’re doing that and we’re improving.”
direct confrontation
The two clubs have met 204 times, with United winning 96, Tottenham winning 57 and 51 ending in a draw.
Despite having twice as many league results against Man United last season, Spurs have only won four of their last 12 Premier League games against the Red Devils, with three of their last five coming at Old Trafford.
Spurs, who defeated United 1-0 in last season’s Europa League final, also won 4-3 in the Wild League Cup quarter-finals at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The last time United beat Spurs was back in October 2022, when the Red Devils won 2-0 at Old Trafford with goals from Fred and Bruno Fernandes.
Tottenham Hotspur team news
Spurs could be without up to 10 players for United’s visit, with James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke, Radu Dragusin, Yves Bissouma, Ben Davies, Archie Gray and Kota Takai all potentially missing due to injury.
Winger Mohamed Kudus is a doubt after missing the win against Copenhagen with a knock, meaning Brennan Johnson could start on the right.
Midfielder Lukas Bergvall is unlikely to feature as he is in concussion protocol following a head blow that forced him to be substituted against Chelsea last weekend.
Tottenham’s predicted starting lineup
Vicario. Polo, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence. Bentancur, Parinha, Searle; Johnson, Richarlison, Simmons
Manchester United early team news
United’s only reported injury concern is centre-back Lisandro Martinez, who has returned to training after being sidelined since February with a knee injury but is still working his way back to full fitness.
Harry Maguire returned to the bench in last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest after recovering from a knock, so Amorim could bring back a defender or use Lenny Yolo in the back three.
United’s predicted starting lineup
Rammen. Yoro, De Ligt, Shaw. Amado, Casemiro, Fernandes, Dalot. Mbeumo, Cunha. Sesco
