Manchester United would welcome Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on Monday night hoping to bounce back from their bitter defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend. The Red Devils are currently wounded and are in need of a big confidence boost if they are to keep in touch with their rivals, Liverpool and Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table.
The recent history of this fixture makes for a mixed reading for both teams as each of them have won three and lost three of their past six meetings across all competitions. Mourinho could deploy a 4-3-3 formation and is likely to name an unchanged side for this encounter.
4-3-3 Manchester United Predicted Lineup To Face Tottenham Hotspur
Defence
Barring any injuries, David De Gea should start for the Red Devils while Lee Grant awaits his opportunity on the bench. The Spanish shot-stopper is yet to keep a clean sheet this season and would need to put on a brave showing against Spurs to stand a chance of maintaining a shut-out on the day.
Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly would continue their centre-half partnership while Chris Smalling and Phil Jones start on the bench. They would be up against one of the best forwards of the Premier League in Harry Kane so it won’t be an easy task for the United defensive duo to keep the English star quiet.
Luke Shaw has been the Red Devils’ shining light so far this season, and he would once again be deployed as the left back while Ashley Young might be used as a makeshift right-back in the absence of the club captain, Antonio Valencia.
Midfield
Andreas Pereira has already started the first two matches of the campaign under Mourinho, so he is expected to continue as the holding midfielder with Nemanja Matic still out with an injury. The new summer signing from Shakhtar Donetsk, Fred will line up alongside the French World Cup winner Paul Pogba at the centre of the pitch. Pogba has been in a rich vein of form of late and has already scored two goals in as many games so far this term.
Jesse Lingard and Marouane Fellaini might come off the bench in the second half to provide some dynamism for Mourinho’s side.
Attack
The trio of Anthony Martial, Romelu Lukaku, and Juan Mata had started the last game away at Brighton and is expected to lead the lines once again for the home team. All three players have failed to deliver the goods on the pitch against the Seagulls last weekend, so they need to step up their game versus Pochettino’s Tottenham team on Monday night or else risk losing their place to one of the fringe players.
Marcus Rashford would need to be content with a place on the bench and might come on to make an impact if United finds themselves trailing or are in need of a goal during the latter stages of the game.
