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The last few weeks have been rough on Manchester United, falling behind in the Premier League title race and seeing some of their rivals under them in the table start to catch up. Now they’re even on points with Tottenham Hotspur and are playing host to that same team on Saturday, and the Red Devils badly need a win to turn things around.
Manchester’s record against teams at the top end ever since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson hasn’t exactly been impressive, but their showings in those matches hasn’t improved any under Jose Mourinho’s guidance. United tend to play very conservatively in those games, and may feel that tendency has directly lead to the Red Devils’ recent lull in form, starting with a scoreless draw against Liverpool at Anfield, and continuing to a fortunate Champions League win against Benfica, a brutal loss to Huddersfield Town, and an unimpressive win over Swansea City in the League Cup.
But those four games have something else in common — they were all away from home. Against Tottenham on Saturday, they’ll be at Old Trafford, where Spurs haven’t won since 2014 and have won at just twice since the turn of the millennium. That’s a lot of history to try to overturn, and it will be made all the harder by Spurs having to try to bounce back from a bitterly disappointing loss to West Ham in the League Cup just a few short days ago.
Worsening Manchester United’s case, though, is that they’re still wracked with injuries — Marouane Fellaini, Paul Pogba, Michael Carrick, Eric Bailly, and Marcos Rojo represent a huge chunk of their best midfield and defensive depth, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still out for awhile yet. Tottenham Hotspur’s attack will be missing the firepower of Harry Kane, though, as the prolific striker is joining Victor Wanyama on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.
Match info, plus how to watch on TV and stream
Match Date/Time: Saturday, 7:30 a.m. ET, 12:30 p.m. local
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester, England
TV: NBCSN (U.S. - English), Universo (U.S. - Spanish), Sky Sports Premier League (U.K.)
Online: NBC Sports Live, NBCSports.com (U.S.), Sky Go (U.K.)
Make friends: Check out The Busby Babe for more Manchester United, and to learn more about Tottenham Hotspur, head over to Cartilage Free Captain.
Listings for more countries can be found at LiveSoccerTV.