Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will top the billing in the Premier League this weekend, with the two top four sides going head-to-head at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Both teams will go into the game with rather topsy-turvy form, given their current mid-table positions. Premier League classification witness.
With both sides in need of a win, here are three key battles to watch out for that could decide the game at Old Trafford.
Although Man Utd fans were disappointed with their 1-1 draw with FC Twente in midweek, they were impressed with the performance of their new midfield destroyer Manuel Ugarte.
After that impressive outing, Ugarte is now expected to make his Premier League debut for the club this weekend against Tottenham, where he will be tasked with stopping one of the best attacking midfielders in the division.
James Maddison is a game-changer on his day, and will be hoping to get away from the Uruguayan and create chances for his fellow strikers on Sunday.
Finally, everything seemed to click for Dominic Solanke a Tottenham this past week
That’s not to say he’d played badly before Thursday night, far from it, but in the win against Qarabag, Solanke looked like the striker we saw equaling 19 Premier League goals in 2023/24.
His improvement in form comes at a pretty perfect time for Tottenham as they will need Solanke at his best if they are to win. Man Utd at Old Trafford, a place where they have notoriously struggled over the years.
The number nine will face a similarly resurgent Matthijs de Ligt on Sunday. The defender seems to be finding his best form again under Erik ten Hag in recent weeks, and bagging Solanke this weekend would go a long way to repairing his reputation after a difficult season at Bayern Munich.
Having not scored since the opening day of the 2024/25 season, it’s fair to say that Joshua Zirkzee is in dire need of a goal. The pressure on Zirkzee has increased so much in recent weeks that Even Erik ten Hag had to come out in defense of the forward’s performances.
And while scoring a goal this weekend will ultimately ease the pressure, the Netherlands international’s ability to drop deep and tie the game up could be the key to the game.
Against a defender keen to chase forwards around the park and try to cut in and win possession from Cristian Romero, Zirkzee’s clever move may be enough to catch Tottenham’s defense out of shape and allow Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford to have some joy. in the final third.
