ONE of the marquee matches of the weekend in the Premier League will see Manchester United take on Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford Sunday.
After staging a stunning second-half comeback to beat Aston on Villa Boxing Day, the Red Devils ended 2023 with a disappointing 2-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest, in a game that brought up my main City Ground selection.
That latest body blow means Erik ten Hag’s team have dropped down to eighth place in the Premier League table, nine points adrift of fourth-placed Arsenal.
United have since seen off Wigan in the FA Cup with a 2-0 win but it would be fair to say a much tougher test awaits when Tottenham come to town.
Ange Postecoglou’s side also sealed their passage through to the fourth round of the FA Cup following a narrow 1-0 win over Burnley last Friday night.
Spurs will make the trip north having won four of their last five Premier League games and another success on Sunday would send them into the top-four, at least temporarily.
Outright Betting
Manchester United, who have won three of their last four Premier League home games, are 6/5 favourites at Bet 365.
Tottenham Hotspur are as big as 2/1 to triumph at Bet 365 while a share of the Old Trafford spoils has been priced up at 29/10 with William Hill
Betting Angles
Tottenham will have their backers at the above-mentioned price but I’m going to side with another player-based Bet Builder and bundle up both Diogo Dalot and Destiny Udogie to commit a foul at 20/23 (Bet 365).
In recent weeks, Dalot has filled in at left-back and if asked to so so again here then I’m more than happy to back the Portuguese defender to tackle his way into trouble at least once against Ange Postecoglou’s attack-minded outfit.
The Red Devils utility man is a fierce competitor and is committing a shade under one misdemeanour per-game in the Premier League this season, and he is backed to continue in that vein here given that his likely direct opponent Brennan Johnson is drawing 1.1 fouls per 90 from top-flight defences this term.
Switching gears to Spurs’ backline, I’m also prepared to back Destiny Udogie to get on the wrong side of the referee at least once at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The Italian left-back is averaging 1.6 fouls per 90 in the top-flight this term, giving away at least one free-kick in 12 of his 17 appearances to date.
With Udogie likely to be handed the task of taming United livewire Alejandro Garnacho, the aforementioned combination should give us a good run for our money at 20/23 with Bet 365.
On a similar line of reasoning to the above, I’m also going to have a small play on the afroemntioned Destiny Udogie to be carded during this contest at 7/2 with SkyBet.
The Tottenham defender has already racked up six yellows and one red this season – one of which was against Man United earlier in the campaign – and he looks worthy of interest to add to that tally at Old Trafford on Sunday.
This English Premier League match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will be played on Jan 14, 2024 and kick off at 16:30. Check below for our tipsters best Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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