Everything you need to know ahead of the Premier League clash at Old Trafford on Monday
After another week full of chaos and recrimination away from the field, Manchester United will be looking to get everything back on an even keel when they host Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on Monday.
United need to bounce back from the 3-2 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion against a Spurs side who have started the season with two wins out of two, and if they fail to do so then the pressure will only ratchet up another notch or two on Jose Mourinho.
The manager will be hoping to spark a turnaround in the form of some of his key players, who will need to improve their attitude if Paul Pogba’s comments are to be believed.
Nemanja Matic and Antonio Valencia could both be in line to play a part having now been back in training for over a week following surgery on abdominal and calf trouble respectively.
Diogo Dalot has been under the knife due to a knee problem and could be back in full training soon, while Sergio Romero and Marcos Rojo also had surgeries after being injured on international duty.
Ander Herrera is expected to remain unavailable after developing a hamstring problem during the loss to Bayern Munich in United’s final summer fixture, while Alexis Sanchez should be fit to play having missed the defeat to Brighton.
Luke Shaw could also miss out due to a foot issue he picked up in training earlier this week.
Neither team has any suspension concerns with none of their players sent off in their opening games of this term.
Supposing that Matic and Valencia are declared fit but Sanchez and Shaw miss out, there will not be too many selection headaches for Jose Mourinho to worry himself with.
Matic ought to replace Andreas Pereira at the base of midfield, while Ashley Young should switch to the left of defence to allow club captain Valencia to come in at right-back. Meanwhile, Mourinho will choose between Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial to start from the left of attack, with the former likely to get the nod after Martial failed to impress in a surprise start at Brighton.
Elsewhere there could be a change on the right side of the front line, with Jesse Lingard now fully up to speed following his late return from the World Cup. Juan Mata has struggled to effect games so far from that position this season, so the England star could well be handed a first start of the season.
Where Mourinho may well have a big decision to make is the centre of his defence after unconvincing performances by Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof at Brighton. With Chris Smalling and Phil Jones in reserve and Marcos Rojo on the comeback trail the manager certainly has the stocks to call upon if he decides to mix things up at the back. Will he back the under-fire pair to succeed against Spurs?
Spurs have started the campaign with back-to-back wins over Newcastle and Fulham, and they’ve even had the boost of a Harry Kane goal in August for the first time in his career.
They will need to break another jinx if they are to keep their perfect start going, though, with their last four trips to Old Trafford having finished in defeat and the last three all having resulted in 1-0 losses.
Mauricio Pochettino brings with him a squad which was not added to in the summer market but appears more settled than many in the Premier League as a result, with Lucas Moura now seven months into his Spurs career and Toby Alderweireld back in the line-up following the lengthy conjecture regarding United’s chase for his signature in the summer.
Pochettino has the bonus also of having no real injury issues among his first-team squad, and now that the likes of Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen have all got a few weeks of training under their belts the effects of their lengthy World Cup runs should be beginning to wear off.
The match at Old Trafford kicks off at 8pm BST on Monday, with live coverage available in the UK on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event from 7:00pm as part of the flagship Monday Night Football show. In the U.S. the game will be shown on NBCSN at 3pm ET.
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