Tottenham v Man Utd predictions: United can stay on course for second spot

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Tottenham v Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Premier League & Main Event, 4.30pm Sunday

Best bet

Manchester United
1pt 6-4 general

Team news

Tottenham
Matt Doherty and Ben Davies are Spurs' only injured players.

Man Utd
Luke Shaw, Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford are doubts and Anthony Martial has been ruled out.

Match preview

Jose Mourinho had the old spark back early in the season as his Spurs side hit top spot but tired Tottenham look like they have seen better days - just like their current boss - and could be heading for another high-profile defeat when Manchester United visit north London.

A week off will have done Tottenham the world of good, but away-game experts Manchester United are still preferred to pile more gloom on Mourinho.

Spurs had a spare week courtesy of their Europa League flop in Zagreb which gave them plenty of time to mull over their last-gasp concession against Newcastle on Sunday.

United, meanwhile, are still very much in Europe and on target for the Europa semi-finals following Thursday's 2-0 first-leg win at Granada.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men have coped nicely with the Thursday-Sunday routine since the turn of the year – they have two wins and a draw in their three league matches immediately following European ties – and there is no reason to think they will be out on their feet now.

This is a side who have won 15 times on their travels in all competitions this term and have lost only three away matches in the last 15 months.

United were hammered 6-1 at home by Spurs in October, but these teams look very different six months on with Tottenham now in a frantic scramble to get back into the Champions League while United have put plenty of daylight between themselves in second and their pursuers. They are four points clear of Leicester and 11 ahead of Spurs.

United look decent defensively and if Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof can keep a lid on Harry Kane, then Tottenham should be muzzled. Kane has scored nine in his last eight starts and remains the classiest centre-forward in the land.

But he'll likely be playing on the counter and if United's well-protected and in-form back four can stay organised Kane can be kept quiet. United have conceded only one goal in their last five in the Premier League and kept clean sheets in six of their last seven on the road.

It's hard to have an awful lot of faith in Tottenham, especially with their propensity to throw away goals and points late in matches.

They've lost a league-high 11 points in the final ten minutes of games and their inability to see out matches is piling the pressure on Mourinho. Newcastle, for example, should never have been allowed back into the game last Sunday.

Mourinho should move some of his players around – Toby Alderweireld, if fit, has to start while Carlos Vinicius, fit or otherwise, shouldn't.

But whoever the Portuguese perms those second-half flaws are present and United are masters at punishing that. Solskjaer's men are in 12th spot in a first-half Premier League table yet continue to find ways out of trouble after the interval.

They did it against Brighton last weekend, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win with late strikes from Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood, the latest in a string of get-out-of-jail efforts.

That means there could also be a case for considering the Draw-United double result or just United winning the second half.

Key stat

Spurs have lost each of their last six Premier League matches against teams currently in the top seven.

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