Jose Mourinho has become the favorite Premier League manager in betting houses to lose his job! Unsurprisingly with such a stunning status, The Special One has to rehabilitate in front of the fans (and the press) with a victory Monday night on their own at the Tottenham derby. There will not be an easy match for United, but statistics encourage “devils”.
Success with Leicester (2-1) has only partly masked the problems that white-reds have with balloon movement and defensive organization. Then came the alarm signal, a disappointing 2-3 on Brighton’s ground, which completely annihilated Manchester’s attack in the second half. Without Rojo, Romero, Matic, Alexis Sanchez, Shaw and Valencia, Mourinho knows his future and his team depend on Spurs.
Tottenham comes with a good morale in this move even though his students.
Pocchetino worked hard to defeat Fulham (3-1). Harry Kane scored again and will be the main danger to De Gea’s gate, and the Londoners have just two notable absences – striker Son and midfielder Wanyama. Spurs’s problem remains the same as in the last seasons. Without making transfers in the summer, Pocchetino’s team has no density, and any injury or lack of form of the players greatly expands the team to failures. He was well in the Lucas Moura team, who was in the game of the previous weekend.
Mourinho has a better lot at his disposal, but he misses Sanchez and Matic.
United has a dwindled bout and Mourinho can make various choices on all positions, and this time it seems he will start offensive with Martial in the left flank. Rashford and Lukaku should also be on the field, but Tottenham has one of the strongest defense in England and will not give way to the pressure of the hosts. Even though Mata is brilliant at times and Lingard offers offensive vitality, Manchester United does not have an exuberant attack game. Pogba still does not find his place in the Mou system, and Tottenham can annihilate the enemy construction.
The last five direct matches were always won by the host team, Manchester United (2-1, 1-0 and 1-0) and Tottenham (2-0 and 2-1) twice. So 5 out of the last 6 duels have been decided by a single goal difference and all the small details will decide the game Monday night. As for the game, Tottenham seems a bit more fluid and “trusted”, while Manchester United is only playing with the blazon and is trying to take advantage of the indisputable qualities of the batch. It will be a balanced duel, in which both will seek to defend themselves as accurately as possible, in order not to offer free odds to the opponent.
THE PROBABLE TEAMS
Manchester United: De Gea – Young, Bailly, Lindelof, Shaw – Fred, Pereira, Pogba – Mata, Lukaku, Martial
Tottenham: Lloris – Trippier, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Davies – Dembele, Dier – L. Moura, Eriksen, Alli – Kane
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1.78
