There’s been a sea change for both of these clubs over the last few seasons. One club used to chop and change managers every couple of seasons or so and the other had a stable management team, young players breaking through on a regular basis and was up at the top end of the table most weeks.
Those roles seem to have now reversed and with Jose Mourinho continuing to experience the same kind of issues his two predecessors had, Mauricio Pochettino has pretty much the unanimous backing of both his fans and his chairman.
Tottenham would have been delighted to attract a coach of the caliber of Mourinho a few seasons ago and I’m sure that Manchester United fans would be seriously tempted if they were offered the chance to swap right now.
Not that such a swap would solve the issues at Old Trafford. Once again the club seems to have gone out and bought big with very little regard for what was needed. Michael Carrick needed replacing at the club and they went out and spent a world record sum on Paul Pogba, hardly a like for like replacement. They had one of the UK’s most exciting striking talents in Marcus Rashford and effectively sidelined him by bringing in Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The one big move they did get right was to bring in Eric Bailly to hold down a position in the center of defense and then he goes and gets injured.
Tottenham\’s summer business wasn’t exactly stellar either. Once again it seems as though they got 1 move right and there are doubts or issues with the other 2 major signings. Victor Wanyama has fitted right in but Vincent Janssen and Moussa Sissoko have both struggled to one degree or another.
Despite Tottenham’s 3-0 win over Manchester United last season, this isn’t generally a happy fixture for them. If you only count games played at Old Trafford then Tottenham have only 13.79% of their games going back to 1910. Another 15.2% of those games were drawn leaving over 70% of the matches ending in a Manchester United win.
This won’t be an easy game for either side and my bet for the Match Odds market will only be placed on the day when I’ve seen the team sheet. If Toby Alderweireld is playing then Spurs will get the nod. If he isn’t then the draw becomes an enticing prospect for me.
The only thing I’m prepared to commit to this early is a bet on the Over/Under markets. Spurs may have torn things up against Swansea but they’ll find it tougher against a Manchester United side that will be well drilled. Spurs were better at the back last season but they’re still a fairly solid outfit and even the mercurial Zlatan may find it tough against them.
I’m not expecting a lot of goals so I’m going to the Under 2.5 Goals market at green Listed Bookmakers. Odds vary depending on your bookie but Pinnacle are strong contenders in this market and you can get 1.92 on less than 2.5 goals with them.
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