Ange Postecoglou makes his home bow as Tottenham host Manchester United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Victory would lift Spurs above Man Utd in the table, whilst Utd could go top with a win for at least a few hours depending upon results elsewhere.
Team News
Cristian Romero is a doubt for Tottenham after he was substituted with a knock to his head during his headed opening goal, in an eventual 2-2 draw at Brentford last weekend.
Tanguy Ndombele (fitness) is another doubt but Fraser Forster (back), Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), Bryan Gil (groin), Rodrigo Bentancur (knee) and Alfie Whiteman (ankle) remain ruled out.
Man Utd could have defender, Lisandro Martinez available after he trained this week, despite having suffered an ankle tendon injury during their opening win over Wolves on Monday evening.
Tom Heaton (calf), Kobble Mainoo (ankle), Rasmus Højlund (back), Tyrell Malacia and Amad Diallo (both knee) are also sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Spurs meet Man Utd at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a 5:30pm BST kick-off on Saturday 19 August, live on Sky Sports.
Stat Attack
- Tottenham are winless in their last five meetings against Man Utd (D1, L4).
- Man Utd are unbeaten in their last five visits to Tottenham (W3, D2).
- Utd’s Marcus Rashford has scored in his last two appearances away to Spurs (W1, D1).
- Anything less than victory would see Spurs fail to win their two opening league matches for the first time since 2015-16 season – when they failed to win their first four games that campaign.
- Man Utd have won just one of their last four league games away from home (W1, D1, L2).
Prediction
Although there would of been nerves amongst Spurs fans about how the club would cope without Harry Kane, I do think that the initial signs suggest that they will be fine after a positive attacking display at Brentford with their midfield in particular looking impressively creative.
Ange Postecoglou therefore should be happy with how his first match as a Premier League manager went with a transitioning Spurs team, but this game will be a different beast given Man Utd’s quality although their attacking threat is just as dangerous as Brentford’s was.
Utd however were lucky to beat Wolves in their opening game because they were largely outplayed at times on the attack, yet excellent defending and a clinical end product proved the difference in the end aided by a slice of luck in the referee not awarding a late penalty to Wolves.
The home fans however will be out in force to welcome Postecoglou in his first competitive home match which I think will motivate Spurs, yet their defending at times were questionable so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see another draw unless Utd don’t raise their performance.
Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Manchester United
Result: Tottennham Hotspur 2-0 Manchester United