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Following last weekend’s Premier League results, both teams will arrive at Old Trafford in polar opposites in terms of recent league form. United were humbled at newly-promoted Huddersfield Town last Saturday, while Spurs cruised past Liverpool on Sunday, at their temporary home, Wembley.
It’s second versus third in the lunchtime showdown, and neither team will want to lose further ground behind Premier League pacesetters, Manchester City, which adds to the importance of this fixture.
Despite last week’s shock reversal in West Yorkshire, United are the favourites to claim the spoils with the bookmakers and can be had at the best industry price of 23/17 with 10Bet. Mauricio Pochettino’s men are ahead of the draw in the betting at the top odds of 61/25 at Marathonbet, while an Old Trafford stalemate can be taken with bet365 and Paddy Power at 23/10.
It is certainly worth noting that the last five Premier League meetings between the teams have all ended in home victories. Of those five, United have three wins, with Spurs unable to score in any of those defeats.
Currently, Tottenham are in superb form in recent weeks however, but this trip to Old Trafford is their first away test against a title rival in the Premier League this season – and they must break their recent poor results at United to cement their fine form. United are wounded, and the home support will be expecting a backlash following their recent loss, which makes this game difficult to call.
Only the slightest preference can be offered on a United home win in this game, in a contest where you can make a serious argument for all three outcomes.
Harry Kane
This game is likely to be billed as a battle between United’s in-form striker, Romelu Lukaku and Tottenham hitman, Harry Kane, but there are plenty of other fine players who will grace the Old Trafford pitch who can score the opening goal. However, the bookmakers see Lukaku as the favourite to open the scoring at 18/5 with Marathon Bet.
Kane is just behind the Belgian in the betting at 4/1 with Betfred and Sun Bets. United youngster Marcus Rashford is next in line at 6/1 with bet365 and, Paddy Power amongst others, while Anthony Martial can be taken at 13/2 with 888Sport and Paddy Power. A word of caution must be suggested in backing either Martial or Rashford is that it is unlikely United boss Jose Mourinho will start the duo together, so check the team news before placing any bets.
Other players of note are United’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan – who scored the solitary goal in a 1-0 home win for United last season – at 8/1 with Paddy Power and Boylesports. Spurs’ Dele Alli is a top-priced 17/2 to break the deadlock with Sun Bets, while Alli’s team mate and free-kick specialist Christian Eriksen can be taken with Winner Sports or Sun Bets at 12/1.
With such an array of attacking talent on show, it is difficult to select any player with confidence to score the opening goal, but goals do look likely in this game, with Both Teams to Score at 43/50 with MarathonBet rated as an excellent bet.
Goals do look likely in my view for this game and Coral offer the interesting price of 7/5 for Both Teams to Score and Over 2.5 Goals. This bet almost covers the potential of all three outcomes provided United and Spurs can both find the net in this game.
As already stated in this preview, I have a small preference for a United win in this game, but Tottenham can provide a strong attacking threat at Old Trafford, which suits our selections for the match.
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