Strong looking team.
It’s been a fine January for Manchester United. After a frustrating Christmas period which saw a shock defeat to Bristol City in the Carabao Cup as well as a hat-trick of draws with Leicester, Burnley and Southampton which effectively crushed any lingering hope of staying on Manchester City’s coattails, Jose Mourinho’s side have responded strongly.
Indeed, 2018 has been a great year so far for United, having won all five matches in January without conceding a goal. However, the biggest challenge awaits on Wednesday night as they travel to face Tottenham at Wembley Stadium.
It’s a mouthwatering offering from the Premier League. Spurs are currently outside the top four and need three points to keep in touch with Liverpool and Chelsea, while United are trying to keep the momentum going ahead of the Champions League’s return in two weeks.
Notably, the occasion will mark Alexis Sanchez’s league debut for United. The Chilean impressed on his debut against Yeovil Town on Friday night but, with all due respect to the League Two side, Mauricio Pochettino’s men pose a much more robust examination of the former Arsenal man’s qualities.
It was a smooth initiation for Sanchez at Huish Park but the Spurs clash offers the South American an appropriately grand setting for his league bow. Spurs fans will of course still associate Sanchez closely with the Gunners, so expect the vituperation to be in full flow in London on Wednesday night.
Sanchez’s presence also brings up an interesting selection quandary for Mourinho. With an extra weapon in his attack, the Portuguese coach will leave at least one United player disappointed with his team selection. But it’s a good problem to have. Managers love options and Mourinho certainly has them for the Spurs game, but below is the starting line-up we think will best serve the Red Devils at Wembley.
In recent games, Mourinho has deployed a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3. Against Burnley, United pushed so high up the pitch that Anthony Martial and Juan Mata were effectively flanking Romelu Lukaku. Jesse Lingard has excelled in a central role and, after scoring his 12th goal of the season against Yeovil, is expected to return to the starting line-up.
Lukaku and Sanchez are certain starters and, considering that the latter looked sharp and creative from the left against Yeovil, it would make sense for Mourinho to deploy him in the same position at Wembley, where he will go up against either Kieran Trippier or Serge Aurier.
It’s interesting that Mourinho has Paul Pogba available, too. The Frenchman has been either injured or suspended for every other game against a top six side this season except for the trip to Arsenal, in which he played a pivotal role in securing United’s 3-1 victory before getting himself sent off.
Pogba is expected to start slightly further up from Nemanja Matic, making it a formidable midfield trio of Matic, Pogba and Lingard, offering United a menacing combination of defensive discipline, creativity and dynamism.
With Eric Bailly still ruled out, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones look to be the preferred partnership at the heart of defence, with Ashley Young on the left and Antonio Valencia on the right. David De Gea will obviously be between the sticks.
Spurs’s recent form has been steady if unspectacular, having failed to beat West Ham and Southampton in the league in recent weeks. They did batter Everton 4-0 in their last home game, though. Interestingly, United have not beaten Spurs in an away game since 2012 (and that was, of course, at White Hart Lane).
However, United have happy recent memories of visits to Wembley, including last season’s League Cup final triumph over Southampton and the FA Cup win over Crystal Palace in May 2016. Mourinho has won four League Cups and an FA Cup at Wembley, while Sanchez’s goalscoring record at the stadium stands at a hugely impressive seven in six games.
Suffice to say, United are adequately equipped to edge Spurs in what should be a thrilling encounter, but Pochettino’s side are jam-packed with quality throughout their team too. Below is our predicted Spurs line-up.
