Spurs vs Manchester United: TOT vs MUN – Tottenham Hotspur will face Premier League giants Manchester United in their first home game of the season. They are trying to get accustomed to life without their star striker Harry Kane. Kane participated in all of their pre-season friendlies. However, he left just before their first league match against Brentford last Sunday. Hence, they had to adapt quickly. Spurs are now approaching this match on the back of a 2-2 draw against Brentford.
Tottenham Hotspur began last season on a good note with 7 unbeaten streaks. However, their performance plummeted near the end of the season. They ended the season in 8th position in the Premier League table. Hence, they did not qualify for any of the European competitions. From there began the rumours of Harry Kane leaving Spurs which haunted them throughout the entire summer break. The English captain had no interest in extending his contract with the club even though he was presented with lucrative deals.
Amidst the confusion, Kane participated in all of their pre-season friendlies. Spurs lost the first friendly against West Ham United. However, they won the next 2 friendlies against Lion City Sailors and Shakhtar Donetsk. Following, they participated in the Joan Gamper Trophy match against Barcelona in Spain. They lost that by a 4-2 margin and this was Kane’s last match with Spurs. His move to Bayern Munich was announced on August 12, just a day before their Premier League opening match against Brentford.
Spurs’ new coach Ange Postecoglou is attack-minded and life without Kane would be hard. However, they still managed to take the lead 11 minutes into the game through a Cristian Romero goal. Their defensive issues peeked through from there on and conceded 2 goals by the 36th minute in the game. Fortunately, Emerson Royal equalized in the dying moment of the first half. The second half remained goalless and the teams went home with a single point each to their names.
Three minutes after scoring the opening goal, Romero was taken off as he sustained a head injury. Coach Postecoglou informed later on that he will not be taking any risks with a head injury. He will proceed with caution due to possible concussions. Hence, there is a chance that Romero will miss this match against Man United to fully recover. In that case, he will join Fraser Forster, Rodrigo Bentancur, Alfie Whiteman, Ryan Sessegnon, and Bryan Gil on the list of Spurs’ injured players.
Forster is suffering from a back problem, Bentancur is recovering from a knee issue, Whiteman has an ankle injury, Sessegnon is recovering from a hamstring issue, and Gil is suffering from a groin injury. When they will be able to come back to the squad remains a doubt. Now, in Romero’s absence, the coach could call up Eric Dier back to the squad. On the other hand, either Davinson Sanchez or Dier will partner up with new signing Micky van de Ven.
Tottenham Hotspur Predicted XI: Vicario; Emerson, Sanchez, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bissouma, Skipp, Maddison; Kulusevski, Richarlison, Son
