3 reasons Tottenham can enjoy another victory at Old Trafford

After a difficult November, Tottenham look to be back on track following a pair of comprehensive victories over Swansea City (5-0) and CSKA Moscow (3-1).

And there’s plenty of evidence they can make it a trio of wins this weekend, as Mauricio Pochettino’s men head to Manchester United. That’s because…

Well-organised defence can frustrate hosts

While the likes of Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane tend to hog the headlines, Spurs’ defence have been their real stars of the season so far, conceding just 10 goals in 14 Premier League games – the fewest in the division.

And things are looking even brighter for the Lilywhites’ backline, with the partnership of Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld ready to start together, following a 10-game injury for the latter.

Extremely solid and with a good understanding, they can frustrate a United side who have netted just seven times in their last eight league games.

Patchy United defence can be exploited

For all their issues last season, the Red Devils were at least reliable at the back, conceding a joint-lowest 35 goals in the Premier League. Not so this campaign…

Jose Mourinho’s men have kept just one clean sheet in their last six league outings – a run which included a 4-0 hammering at Chelsea.

Having failed to keep out the likes of Watford, Swansea City and Fenerbahce (twice) already this season, a defence with the rash Marcos Rojo and inconsistent Phil Jones is surely going to struggle against players with the pace and quality of Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Heung Min-Son.

European jet-lag could hurt United

Admittedly the Red Devils will be upbeat after Thursday night’s 2-0 win at Zorya, but a long trip to Ukraine isn’t the ideal preparation for a huge Premier League clash.

The game’s importance meant Mourinho also played a full-strength team, with Ibrahimovic and Pogba both playing the whole 90 minutes at Stadion Chornomorets.

While Mauricio Pochettino also fielded a strong side in Tottenham’s Champions League game against CSKA Moscow earlier in the week, his side breezed to an easy win – meaning it’s United who are likely to look the more leggy in Sunday’s game.

In the match betting, Tottenham are generously priced for victory at 5/2, with Man United 6/5 and 12/5 for the draw.

Meanwhile, only one side has found the net in the last three meetings between this pair, with a 0-0 draw preceding that run. That means the 5/1 for Spurs to win to nil looks very generous indeed.

And in the player markets, it’s the 16/1 for Heung-Min Son to score twice or more catching the eye, with the South Korean having netted two Premier League braces already this year.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing