Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United

One of the most highly anticipated fixtures on the Premier League calendar pits Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United against each other at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Tottenham started life without former talisman Harry Kane with a goal-glutted 2-2 draw at cross-town rivals Brentford on the opening weekend, showing they can still pack a punch without one of the most prolific scorers in Premier League history. However, Ange Postecoglou’s touchline debut in England’s top flight served as a stark reminder of Spurs’ defensive woes, with the London outfit now going 14 league matches without a clean sheet. Their proneness to conceding in abundance can hardly inspire confidence as they bid to arrest a five-game winless H2H run against Man Utd (D1, L4). Worryingly for Postecoglou, Spurs are still awaiting their first top-flight home win over United since switching to their new stadium (D2, L2).

On the other hand, Manchester United eked out a narrow 1-0 home win over perennial bottom-half strugglers Wolverhampton on day one despite facing an alarming 23 shots on goal. Only last season’s runners-up Arsenal have had more attempts against Man Utd during Erik ten Hag’s regime. Nonetheless, the abovementioned success took United’s winning streak in the Premier League to five matches. But it’s worth mentioning that just one of those five triumphs came outside Old Trafford. The ‘Red Devils’ notoriously struggled on hostile turf last season, winning a league-lowest one point from eight top-flight visits to fellow top-nine rivals (D1, L7). Moreover, 33 of the 43 goals conceded in 2022/23 came away from home (76%), with 28 of them arriving against sides to have finished in the upper half of the table.