Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur Predictions

• Tottenham are winless this season, failing to score in four of their five league games
• Manchester United were 2-0 winners when these sides met earlier this year
• Only six sides have recorded fewer shots on target than Tottenham this term
• Mbeumo has scored six goals in nine league meetings with Spurs, including two-in-two for United

Agonising break for both sides

The extended international break was a rough one for Manchester United and Tottenham, who were each left to stew on some awful results.

Spurs spent the break bottom of the table, as they search for their first victory of the campaign. Manchester United are winless in three, a run which included their controversial home defeat to Manchester City.

The Premier League throwing the book at City was a let-off for both Michael Carrick and Roberto De Zerbi, as their respective futures would have been the focus of the last two-and-a-half weeks, had City’s charges not been announced.

Is this all Tottenham are?

After an extensive squad overhaul, and given how little time De Zerbi has had, it would be natural to expect more from Spurs in the coming weeks. However, their underlying numbers still have them firmly in the bottom half of the league, and they’ve conceded eight times from an Expected Goals Against tally of 7.9.

Spurs also rank second behind Brighton in terms of passes per defensive action (PPDA), which suggests they’re already up to grips with De Zerbi’s aggressive pressing style.

The midfield duo of Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes don’t look capable of being the kind of fulcrum that De Zerbi needs. They struggle to progress the ball forward quickly, and that’s a big part of why Spurs have recorded 19 shots on target this season, with only six sides managing fewer.

Spurs do have some kind home matches coming up in the next couple of months, but turning things around this weekend looks tough. They’re yet to put in an away performance of note under De Zerbi. Now they head on the road just hours after their players return from an extended international break, in which their two starting centre-halves picked up knocks.

Opportunity for Carrick

Manchester United restricted City to only two shots on target in their last home league game, and one of those was the missed offside that Haaland scored from.

The collapse at home to Brighton in the Carabao Cup was alarming, but United still raced into a 2-0 lead against one of the strongest performers in the division this term.

Hosting Tottenham offers an easier time for Carrick’s side, and they did ease past Ipswich at Old Trafford earlier this term.

The Red Devils also have the superior attacking options of the two sides, and post-international break matches do tend to be lower-scoring.

Bryan Mbeumo has netted six goals in nine Premier League meetings with Spurs, including home and away strikes for United last season. He’s scored twice from an xG of 3.1 this season, and he can improve on that tally with a strike on Saturday.