Tottenham Hotspur vs. Manchester United: Last 3 meetings between the sides | Premier League 2019-20

Tottenham Hotspur play host to Manchester United this Sunday in a key Premier League match that could go a long way towards deciding which of these two members of the so-called ‘Big Six’ manages to qualify for the Champions League next season.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Red Devils have been on far better form than Jose Mourinho’s side, but of course, the Portuguese boss will be desperate to get one over on his old employers and traditionally, his sides are never more dangerous than when they have their backs to the wall.

With the game just around the corner, here is a look at the last 3 meetings between these two Premier League giants.

Manchester United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur

4th December 2019, Premier League

A wonder goal from Dele Alli couldn't stop Spurs falling to defeat in their last meeting with United

The last meeting between the two came in December 2019 and actually represented Jose Mourinho’s third match in charge of Spurs. The Portuguese had led his side to 2 straight wins previously – over struggling West Ham and Bournemouth – but the “new manager bump” would come to an end in this game at the hands of his old side.

Although the statistics looked relatively even at the end of the game – with both sides having a similar amount of possession, chances and shots on target – Tottenham never really looked comfortable, with Harry Kane being largely starved of service upfront and the pace of United’s Marcus Rashford giving their defence plenty of problems.

It was the England international who opened the scoring on just 6 minutes, as he capitalised on a piece of horrendous defending from Davinson Sanchez to basically fire the ball through Paulo Gazzaniga at his near post.

A dipping shot from Rashford from outside the box came close to doubling United’s advantage, only for the strike to hit the bar, and 5 minutes from half-time, Tottenham drew level through Dele Alli. It was a goal of pure genius, as he latched onto a parry from David De Gea to loop the ball over the heads of Fred and Ashley Young before volleying home on the turn.

If Mourinho was hoping that the goal would galvanise his troops though, he was wrong; United came out for the second half on the front foot again, and after some excellent work on the left side, Rashford charged into the box only to be felled by Moussa Sissoko.

After a VAR check a penalty was awarded, and the England forward converted nervelessly. Spurs had almost the entire half to find an equaliser, but couldn’t create any clear chances and in the end, the Red Devils deservedly took all 3 points.

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Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Manchester United

13th January 2019, Premier League

A tremendous finish from Marcus Rashford cemented a smash-and-grab victory for United in January 2019

Then-Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino hailed the second-half performance of his side in this game as the best he’d ever seen from them, but somehow it still wasn’t enough to rescue even a point, as a first-half goal from Marcus Rashford, as well as some resolute defending and a world-class performance from keeper David de Gea were enough to seal a smash-and-grab win for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United.

The Red Devils travelled to Wembley on the back of 4 successive Premier League wins under the Norwegian – who was still classed as an ‘interim manager’ at that point – while Pochettino’s Tottenham had lost just 1 of their last 7 league games. After an even first half though, it was United who drew first blood on the stroke of half-time.

Rashford latched onto the end of a beautiful long pass from midfielder Paul Pogba, and was able to race into the box and fire a shot from the right low past Hugo Lloris before the oncoming Jan Vertonghen had chance to intervene. It was a brilliant finish by anyone’s standards.

Tottenham came out strongly in the second half, and utterly bossed the game, eventually ending up with 61% of possession and a total of 21 shots, but try as they might they could not breach United’s goal. Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Toby Alderweireld all came close, but somehow De Gea denied them all – making 11 saves on a whole, including a number with his feet. It was arguably one of the Spaniard’s best-ever performances.

In the end it was clear who the better team was, but unfortunately for Tottenham fans, they took nothing of the spoils, while Solskjaer equalled Sir Matt Busby’s all-time record of winning his first 5 league games in charge of United.

Manchester United 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur

August 27th, 2018, Premier League

2 goals from Lucas Moura left Jose Mourinho's United humiliated in August 2018

This was a truly humiliating loss for Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United, as they were absolutely whitewashed by Tottenham at Old Trafford, with two goals from Lucas Moura and one from Harry Kane handing Mauricio Pochettino’s side all 3 points to continue their 100% record at the start of the 2018-19 season.

United were coming off a terrible defeat at the hands of Brighton, but they actually started off as the brighter side, and could’ve taken the lead in just the 15th minute. A diabolical back pass from Danny Rose rolled instead to striker Romelu Lukaku, but despite rounding Hugo Lloris the Belgian couldn’t finish, with his shot instead trickling past the far post. It was a miss that the Red Devils would go on to rue.

Spurs came out strongly in the second half, and within 5 minutes of the restart, they opened the scoring with a wonderful header from Harry Kane directly from a Kieran Trippier corner; the England captain rose highest and despite being quite far out, he was able to direct the ball into the far corner away from the reach of David de Gea.

Just under 2 minutes later, it was game over for Mourinho and United, as a run down the right from Christian Eriksen saw the Dane slide a low ball across the box, and Moura found himself free to guide a right-footed shot into the back of the net.

The Red Devils’ humbling was completed on 83 minutes, as Moura again found himself given far too much time and space, and he used his pace to easily bypass Chris Smalling before rifling the ball past De Gea with a brilliant finish. The goal was an excellent one from a Spurs perspective, but it summed up United’s performance – they were simply far too slack in defence.

The victory was Pochettino’s first at Old Trafford as Tottenham manager – reversing a trend of 4 straight losses without his side scoring a goal. Mourinho meanwhile was left as a bitter and dejected figure – and the post-match press conference saw his now-infamous “respect” tirade aimed at the critical reporters in attendance.

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