Robert Vilahamn has made it clear that Tottenham Hotspur must be able to beat Manchester United if they are to fight for a place in the Women’s Champions League.
Spurs have had a mixed start to the 2024/25 Barclays Women’s Super League campaign, beating Crystal Palace on the opening weekend but drawing against Aston Villa and being stung late on by Liverpool last time out. They also narrowly beat Charlton Athletic in the Women’s League Cup.
After suffering a painful 3-2 defeat against Liverpool, the Vilahamn side now prepare to face the Red Devils at Leigh Sports Village.
Speaking about the game, Vilahamn said the team’s ability to counter-attack when they regain possession will be vital to their chances of coming away with a win.
“We scored eight goals in our first three wins,” he said.
“We have very good attacking patterns and we have very good players. On the one hand, we want to make sure we play very good football and create chances. The other thing will be trying to take advantage of the moment we are on the ball against them and try to counter the attack as well.
“We have some very fast players who can be useful in this game, but we know they will play a very strong team. We have to be very clear in all the scoring chances we have.”
Despite a heavy defeat in the FA Cup final in May, Vilahamn revealed that Tottenham’s “good pre-season game” against United has helped build confidence in their ability ahead of this one.
“If we want to be a top team, we have to compete with the best teams,” he said.
“It will be a fun game against United. We had a good pre-season game against them so we know we can hurt them but we also have to be very good otherwise we won’t have a good chance of winning. .”
Manchester United will go into the match having had a longer rest period than Spurs following the postponement of their WSL clash with Chelsea following a controversial scheduling conflict which was a result of the latter’s participation in the Women’s Champions League.
When asked if this puts them at an advantage, Vilahamn explained: “If they had one more weekend off, they will have used it to train really well and have good confidence in ourselves, but we came from a very tough fight. Obviously we lost the game, but we want to try to win this game and we will use our energy from that.
“Both teams will be ready for the game. We can’t blame the schedule and it will be the better teams who win.”
The game will also mark the first time Tottenham will face midfielder Grace Clinton, who returned to United after a season-long loan. Celin Bizet soon followed her too.
Vilahamn praised his performance so far this season, which has seen him score in two of his three games. “This match will be difficult for us because we are playing against her,” he said. “But on the other hand, we play against good players every week, so we’ll have a strategy. We also know her well and we also know how to maybe stop her, but she’s a very good player.”
The clash between the two sides will fuel the new rivalry between the two teams that was created when they met in the FA Cup final last year, where United reigned supreme.
Vilahamn revealed that he “likes the atmosphere” that is created when the two face off. “I feel like they’re one of those teams that we competed with last season and they were ranked higher than us,” he said. “I think if we want to get into the Champions League, United are one of those teams that we have to beat and be better than.
“They also have great support from the fans who are strong and I love that. They brought them to Brisbane Road before and for me as a manager to be part of this league and this fan base is fantastic. I’ I like the atmosphere that is created when we have our fans and we really compete.”
