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Team sheets
There is a galore of injury woes for both the teams prior to the match. Fergie does not have a single spare centre back on the bench. Ferdinand and Evans are the only options available, with Rafael and Evra playing as full backs. The midfield is looking much more competitive after the return of Fletcher and Anderson. Carrick and Scholes will be expected to start ahead of the Scotsman. Despite Young being injured, matters upfront have taken a turn for the better. Rooney, Van Persie and Welbeck and expected to be the front 3 with Kagawa playing behind the Dutchman.
AVB also has his own problems. Gallas and Caulker have sort of established themselves at the center in the absence of Kaboul. Vertoghen will play at left back as Assou Ekkoto is injured. Walker will continue to impress on the right. The front 3 will consist of Bale and Lennon on the wings with Defoe through the middle. Dempsey is set to start behind Defoe, as Sigurdsson has failed to impress.
Tactics Battle
AVB demands a completely different play from this Spurs team than what Rednapp had. The main changes can be seen in the front three.
Lennon nowadays is seen making runs off the ball to receive through balls inside the full back. This system was no where visible under Harry, where Lennon was encouraged to beat the fullback on sheer pace. Another aspect of Lennon’s play is that he gets way too few goals for all his talent and pace. So AVB has him arriving late in the box from the right wing. While Bale is galloping down the left and whipping in crosses, Lennon is asked to arrive behind the main striker so that he can receive Bale’s cut-backs.
The threat of Defoe
Jermain Defoe also scarcely fits into AVB’s system. The diminutive striker does not have one touch passing at the edge of the box on his platter. Defoe is much more of the traditional forward who goes for solo efforts and is a classic goal poacher. Being at the right place at the right time is one of his virtues, but this might not be suited to AVB’s system. So even though Defoe is in red hot form, Adebayor’s return from his hamstring injury might just signal his bench warming time.
But Defoe’s pace and guile could be a potent weapon against United’s defense. Ferdinand and Evans are not the quickest of defenders and have played very few games together. Also with Clint Dempsey starting behind Defoe, Fergie’s men might be up for a dreary night.
Even though Bale gallops down the left flank, most of Spur’s potency comes down the right with Walker and Lennon. Walker especially has improved greatly and will prove a great deal for Rooney to track. Rooney will be set to return to the team, but the presence of RVP will push the Englishman to the left. Even though Rooney is known for his industrious tracking down and covering, Fergie might be tempted to give his warhorse Giggs a start. Utd will be clearing missing Young and Valencia on this wing.
Similar Midfield setup
Both the teams face a similar situation in midfield. On paper they both show a 3 man midfield, but the advanced midfielder in both the teams stays upfront. Similar to Dempsey, Kagawa also has been seen positioning himself just behind Van Persie. This positioning of his is similar to the play in Dortmund, where he was able to change the game’s tempo after receiving the ball from midfield.
United’s midfield of Carrick and Scholes will have a huge responsibility in their hands. Carrick will most definitely be given the job to cover Rafael on the right against Bale. This would leave Scholes alone in the centre against the likes of Dembele and Dempsey. The veteran midfielder has never been known for his great tackling skills and might turn out to be a liability here. This might tempt Fergie to start Cleverley along with Carrick in the centre.
Tottenham’s center back pairing of Gallas and Caulkar looks to be thriving and the experienced Gallas is able to lift up the defence at the right time. The Brazilian Sandro playing in place of Parker has set into AVB’s squad and is becoming a good box to box player. Often Sandro, Dembele and Sigurdsson are seen to rotating their positioning and this allows Sandro to burst into space in the opposition half.
United’s threat in attack is undoubted and with 3 strikers playing upfront, goals will definitely be coming. The only problem here would be how much the likes of Welbeck and Rooney will track back Bale and Walker. Patrice Evra and Rafael have been the weaklings of Fergie’s team till now and both of them again have a stern test against Lennon and Bale.
Expected Lineups
Man Utd: Lindegaard, Rafael, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Carrick, Cleverley, Kagawa, Rooney, Welbeck, RVP
Tottenham : Lloris, Walker, Gallas, Caulker, Vertoghen, Sandro, Dembele, Dempsey, Bale, Lennon, Defoe
Players to watch out for: Cleverley, Dempsey
Prediction: Man Utd 3 – 1 Tottenham
