After what feels like a lifetime, Manchester United return to action this afternoon with a 5:30pm kick-off at Old Trafford against bottom of the table Tottenham Hotspur. While United have had a very disappointing start to the season, it could be argued Tottenham have been even more underwhelming as both teams desperately need to come away from this game with a victory.

In our preview of the game we are going to take a look at the team news coming into the game including our predicted XI for this one, we will have a look at some of the key battles and players to watch and then of course we will make a prediction for how this one could play out.

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Team News

With the long international break, the team news is largely unpredictable coming back to club action, as several of United’s key players withdrew from international duty including Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford, while others have played essentially every minute of the last 2 weeks for their country.

Looking at the squad availability, United know they will be without Ugarte and De Ligt is unlikely despite getting minutes in a behind closed doors friendly during the break. Meanwhile, there are some shorter-term concerns for the likes of Benjamin Sesko, Amad Diallo, Patrick Dorgu and Noussair Mazraoui who have all had notable injuries and concerns and their returns are scheduled for October but Carrick may be unwilling to risk any of these from the start.

The lesser known knocks and injuries for the likes of Mainoo and Rashford are unlikely to keep them out, and the break from international duty could benefit both in getting fitness levels up and setting themselves up for a strong return to action. I expect both to start unless we hear differently from Carrick leading into the game. Meanwhile Carlos Baleba is likely to feature from the bench after also building up his minutes in the international break through the organised friendly.

For Tottenham, they also have some concerns with a similar level of absentees. Some long term such as Xavi Simons and Kulusevski, and some who could miss out such as Van de Ven, Van Hecke, Porro and Mudryk although any of these could return for the game depending on the extent of their injury concerns.

Predicted XI: Lammens, Shaw, Martinez, Maguire, Dalot, Tielemans, Mainoo, Rashford, Fernandes, Mbeumo, Cunha

Key Battles

With some unknowns around availability of key players, looking at key battles is tough for this clash, however I do think it will be a similar story at both ends of the pitch. Both United and Spurs have been wasteful in front of goal, and while United have still bagged 8 in the league this season to Tottenham’s 2, a lack of cohesion, being wasteful with big chances and lacking a focal point have led both sides to struggle for ways through stubborn defences.

At the other end of the pitch, both sides have conceded 8 goals, and so while I’m not confident of the forwards’ abilities to score the chances, they will certainly get them on either side, as both defences are filled with potential to make errors and gift goals. It’s something that both managers will have been considering during the break, but with the huge pressure building for both sides to perform, it will either sure up the squads, or could lead to nerves and mistakes on Saturday evening.

As Tottenham are still finding their feet with the huge overhaul of playing staff this summer, I think United look to be the more settled of the two clubs, however in the past we’ve seen boring 1-0 results either way including the dreadful watch of the Europa League final, but similarly we have seen 4-3 and an infamous 6-1 result between the clubs in recent memory, and so neutrals will be hoping for the later, I think the fans of either side will take anything that involves a comfortable victory to avoid embarassement and huge media pressure.

Prediction

Neither team have set the world alight thus far this season, and despite both having strong squads on paper, spending hundreds of millions in the summer window and yet Spurs remain without a win and only scored twice in the league, meanwhile United have scored and conceded 8 goals across their games and while they’ve had a few moments of bad luck through conceding late, poor refereeing and the unfortunate own goal against Fulham, they can’t really feel too hard done by given their performances.

While I think this game could be unpredictable, I’m going to take a punt at 2-1 to United. I think Spurs will score despite being underwhelming as United simply cannot seem to eliminate errors at the back, and I think it will be a Rashford winner that gives the home crowd a real boost upon the return to club football, and leaves huge pressure on De Zerbi and co as they remain rock bottom of the table.

Manchester United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur

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