Tottenham began life under new manager Ange Postecoglou with an encouraging 2-2 draw away to Brentford last weekend. They also tasted what the goalscoring challenge will be like without striker Harry Kane who has joined Bayern Munich.
But Cristian Romero who was withdrawn due to a head injury stepped up to connect with a James Maddison cross for the club’s first league goal. Emerson Royal who looks reborn under Postecoglou then levelled, scoring Tottenham’s second goal of the season to earn a valuable point.
Romero has been back in training and manager Postecoglou is likely to stick him back in the team with no new injury concerns reported ahead of the crunch game against visiting Manchester United this weekend.
Ryan Sessegnon, Rodrigo Bentancur and Byran Gil are all still out with injuries having missed the Premier League opener- but Richarlison who is tasked with scoring the goals now that Kane has left looks sharp and would have benefitted from another week of uninterrupted training.
Club captain Son Hueng-min will have a lot to say if Spurs are to take all three points against Erik ten Hag’s team, last season the South Korean striker played with an injury so it will be interesting to what the added responsibility of leadership does to his game.
Tottenham have won just one of their last nine Premier League games against Man Utd (D2 L6), and are winless in five against them (D1 L4) since a 6-1 away win in October 2020.
So with everything in mind and the stakes as high as they are, here is the team manager Ange Postecoglou is likely to pick.
1. Richarlison -6
He just never stopped running. Did not score but you just can’t fault his commitment to the cause.
2. Heung-Min Son -7
Always looked dangerous in one on one situations.
3. Cristian Romero-6
Solid and was calm even in situations that he’d normally lose his head.
4. Dejan Kulusevski -7
Looked to be back to his best with some really great hold up play.