Tottenham welcome Manchester United to north London in what should be an exciting Saturday lunchtime encounter at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Thomas Frank’s side are back to winning ways after a thumping 4-0 win over Copenhagen in the Champions League followed two disappointing defeats against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup and Chelsea last weekend.
Spurs bowed out of the League Cup with a poor performance at St James’ Park, knocked out with a 2-0 loss by the holders, and they slumped to a second successsive defeat at home to Chelsea after Joao Pedro struck the winner.
The north Londoners have been consistently inconsistent since Frank’s arrival in the dugout, and the Dane has led them to sixth in the Premier League table after 10 games.
United, meanwhile, are eighth, after they escaped the City Ground with a point after Amad Diallo’s late heroics against Nottingham Forest.
Sean Dyche’s men had turned the game on its head after Casemiro had opened the scoring, with a quickfire double thanks to Morgan Gibbs-White and Nicolo Savona.
That result ended the Red Devils’ three-game winning run, which saw them beat Brighton, Liverpool, and Sunderland in that time, and it has seen Ruben Amorim’s side climb the table slowly.
For Spurs, it is more of the same on the injury front.
Frank suffered another blow ahead of the Copenhagen clash in midweek, with Mohammed Kudus not making the squad with a knock and he remains a doubt for this game.
Djed Spence recovered from his own to make the bench against the Danish side, and he replaced Destiny Udogie at left-back in the second half.
Lucas Bergvall missed out completely with a concussion, and he will again sit out this game due to medical protocols.
There are a handful of absentees that Spurs are hoping to have fit by the end of the next international break, but they are unlikely to feature against United.
Dominic Solanke, Kota Takai, Radu Dragusin, Archie Gray, Yves Bissouma, and Ben Davies make up that group.
As for United, Lisandro Martinez is almost at the end of his recovery trail from an ACL tear.
Amorim confirmed that the Argentine wanted to play against Forest, but club staff decided against including him, instead opting to be cautious with the defender.
He could potentially return here, now training with his team-mates again, but it remains likelier that his comeback will be complete after the international window.
Tottenham vs Man Utd prediction
This could go either way, as the two kings of inconsistency face off.
Spurs looked more polished in their moments, while United have begun to look more cohesive as a unit as Amorim’s system begins to take shape.
The visitors’ front three of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko is starting to gel, while Bruno Fernandes is adapting better to his position in the midfield pivot.
That said, if Spurs’ workhorse duo Rodrigo Bentancur and Joao Palhinha can ruffle feathers in the engine room, it might give the home side that extra edge.
