Sunday 11th December 2016 Kickoff: 1500hrs
Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur
Football – England – Premier League
The big game of the day on Sunday takes place at Old Trafford where Manchester United and Tottenham clash in a battle between sixth and fifth. Spurs hold a six point lead over United coming into this game having played the sane number of games, so no matter what happens in the game, they will still have some sort of advantage as the two teams attempt to close the gap on the top four.
November proved to be a really frustrating month for United in the league as they won only one of their three league games, drawing the other two. Jose Mourinho bemoaned a lack of luck in the draws against Arsenal and West Ham having dominated both games only to come away without the full award of points. That frustration continued into their first league game of this month against Everton last weekend. United held a lead going into the last five minutes only to give away a ridiculous penalty and gift the Toffees a point. It means they have now drawn their last three games 1-1 and led to them slipping further behind their title rivals as well as a place in the top four. A win over Ukrainian outfit Zorya on Thursday ensured their passage to the next stage of the Europa League but Mourinho and all concerned will be determined to be competing in a different European competition next season.
Tottenham will also be part of the last 32 in the Europa League come the New Year as they could finish no better than third in their Champions League group in what was a pretty underwhelming campaign. Attention now switches back to their domestic efforts and they’ll be hoping to build on their excellent 5-0 win over struggling Swansea last time out, which was only their second victory in seven league games. Spurs’ third place finish last season increased expectation around White Hart Lane that they would be even closer to their first ever Premier League title this time around but it’s been that lack of consistency that has really hindered their attempts to keep pace with Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. Mauricio Pochettino’s men were seven points behind Chelsea coming into this weekend and with their North London rivals winning yesterday, they are the same number of points behind them, too, meaning a result is imperative at Old Trafford to keep them in touch.
Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur Betting Tips
United have not been defeated at home since the Manchester derby back in September but they have only won one of their five games in the league at Old Trafford since then. Despite their inability to turn one point into three, Mourinho’s men have been impressive enough and will surely starting picking up some victories soon. Tottenham’s away record in all competitions has been disappointing to say the least and they travel to Manchester have failed to win any of their last seven away games.
Although the results are not quite illustrating it, United are in a decent period of their season and are beginning to find more balance to their attacking play. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored seven goals in his last six appearance and the introduction of Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been a real positive in recent games. Spurs are more than capable on their day of getting a result but I think the home team will just have the edge in this encounter and finally record another home win in the league.
Manchester United 6/5 @ Betfair
