Jose Mourinho will come up against his former side as Tottenham entertain Manchester United in north London this evening.
Spurs were a mess before football was suspended back in March as they hadn’t won any of their previous six games in all competitions and were knocked out of the Champions League following a 4-0 aggregate defeat to RB Leipzig.
Mourinho will hope the three-month hiatus has given his squad a chance to re-focus and they desperately need a positive result tonight as Tottenham currently sit eighth in the table – seven points adrift of the top four.
Defeat to Manchester United would leave Spurs facing a mountain to climb to secure Champions League qualification this season. However, victory for the hosts would see them move to just one point of fifth-placed United and blow the race for the Champions League wide open.
Man Utd are also in desperate need of a result as they head to the capital knowing a win would see them move level on points with Chelsea ahead of their trip to Villa Park on Sunday so Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be keen to take something back to Manchester.
Team news
Tottenham used the break to get some key players fit and Mourinho has confirmed Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son and Moussa Sissoko will all start after overcoming injury issues in recent weeks.
Kane was set to miss the season with a hamstring injury, Son was nursing a broken arm while Sissoko was also struggling with a muscle problem but the trio are all now fully fit for the remainder of the campaign.
Steven Bergwijn has also been given the time to return to fitness so Mourinho has virtually a fully-fit squad to choose from. Although Giovani Lo Celso faces a late fitness test and Jan Vertonghen may not start as doubts continue over his future at the club. Dele Alli also misses out due to suspension.
Man Utd have also been able to get some key men back during the suspension as Marcus Rashford is now fit and available for selection after recovering from a serious back injury.
Paul Pogba is also back in contention after working on his fitness these past few months but reports suggest the Frenchman may be on the bench tonight as Solskjaer wants to ease him back into action.
The United boss confirmed yesterday that Axel Tuanzebe and Phil Jones are United’s only major absentees so Solskjaer has a strong squad to choose from this evening.
Expected line-ups
Predicted score
Tottenham 1-1 Man Utd: Spurs were in a rut before the break and lost their last home game 3-2 to Wolves so Mourinho will be demanding a fast start from his players tonight. However, Man Utd have won the last two meetings between the two sides and took all three points from this fixture last season so Solskjaer will be quietly confident.
Both teams desperately need a win to boost their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next season but I have a feeling the points will be shared tonight. I’m going for a 1-1 draw – which will be a great result for Chelsea!
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