Manchester United will play Tottenham Hotspurs hoping to step up their away game this season.
Having been brilliant at home since Erik Ten Hag was appointed, the Red’s away form since then has been far from convincing. They won only eight times in the Premier League on the road during the 2022/23 campaign.
That’s a contrast to their record at home where they are on a 30-game unbeaten streak since their opening defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion last season.
Standing in United way on the road is Spurs who were brilliant at home last season. They won their first fibe home games of the 2022/23 Premier League season and also did the same as the season was ending between February and April in from of their own fans.
To open up their new campaign, United scrapped to controversially beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 at Old Trafford while Spurs drew 2-2 away to London rivals Brentford.
Team News
Lisandro Martinez is expected to be fit for Manchester United after coming off against Wolves with a knock.
While new striker Rasmus Hojlund, Tyrell Malacia,Kobbie Mainoo and Amad Diallo are all absent and will not play against Spurs.
For Spurs, they will be without Bryan Gil, Rodrigo Bentacur, Ryan Sessegnon, Fraser Forster and Whiteman, who are all still out with serious injuries.
Cristian Romero though, is expected to be back after having been taken against Brentford as precaution after suffering a head injury.
Match stats
Tottenham have always struggled traditionally in games against Manchester United. Across the Premier League era, they lost more goals against Manchester United (39) than versus any other opponent in the league.
Just one of the last nine Premier League meetings between these clubs has finished with Spurs the victorious side (D2 L6), while they are now winless in five consecutive home games against Man Utd. This includes four fixtures at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with United the team to have visited the stadium the most often without losing in all competitions (W2 D2).
The last meeting between Tottenham and Manchester United came in April, as the two sides drew 2-2 in the Premier League in north London. Goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford put United 2-0 up at half-time, before Pedro Porro and Son Heung-Min both scored after the break to rescue a point for the home side.
Manchester United come into this match having won the second highest tally of Premier League points in 2023 so far (46) – below only Manchester City (56).
The 13-time Premier League champions will hope to do better than they did in their opening Premier League game away from home last season, where they lost 4-0 in a disastrous performance at Brentford. In fact, United have won their opening away game just once across the last five Premier League seasons (D2 L2), beating Brighton on the road in 2020-21.
Spurs lost their last Premier League match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, going down 3-1 to Brentford in May. The last time that they lost two successive league games at home was back in January, when they lost to Aston Villa and Arsenal.
Since the start of last season, Tottenham have conceded at least twice in 21 of their 39 Premier League games. Among sides currently in the competition, only Nottingham Forest (22) have done so in more across this period.
In 2023 so far, Spurs have averaged just 1.35 points per game in the Premier League. That average is the 10th highest in the competition over this period and below fellow London clubs Brentford (1.68) and Fulham (1.36).
Across two seasons as Celtic coach, Postecoglou suffered just six home defeats in 76 league games within the Scottish Premiership, while guiding them to the highest tally of wins (61) and points (192) of any side in the competition.
What was said by the managers
Ahead of this game, Erik Ten Hag said United should step up their performance away from home in order to get more points.
“Well, this is one of the aims we have for this season, that we have to step up in away games to get more points,” said Erik in his pre-Spurs media briefing.
“[We want] to bring higher levels, because that is the foundation for, of course, more points.”
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday, Ange said: “It’s a great challenge for us but the most important thing is that it’s our first home game in the Premier League this season.
“Tomorrow is about showing a little bit more of our football and hopefully impose our game style on a really good opponent.”
Probable lineups
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario; Emerson, Sanchez, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bissouma, Skipp, Maddison; Kulusevski, Richarlison, Son
Manchester United: Onana; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Shaw; Fernandes, Casemiro, Eriksen; Antony, Rashford, Sancho
