The Return of the Jose
Jose Mourinho returns to Old Trafford for the first time since being sacked by the Red Devils. Will he have his revenge with new side Spurs? Have a read of our preview here:
Mourinho’s return
The column inches will be filled with the story of Jose returning to the club that sacked him when Tottenham travel to Old Trafford on Wednesday and so they should be.
It is a compelling story, much like the idea of Mauricio Pochettino heading into the hot seat at Arsenal. Mourinho will feel hard done by when it comes to his spell at United and will almost certainly feel he did not have the backing in the transfer market that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has received thus far.
How badly Mourinho needed a Maguire or Wan-Bissaka yet was unable to sign the kind of players that would have made his side better, instead often resorting to moving midfielders back into central defence.
In fairness, the Pogba situation highlighted once again how much power players have in the modern game and this is clearly unhealthy. Mourinho is unlikely to find Christian Eriksen to be as difficult even though the Spurs creator wants a new challenge.
One thing Mourinho can call upon at Tottenham is a goal scorer. In Harry Kane, Tottenham have one of the best forwards in world football.
Kane has scored 23 goals in 23 games for Spurs and England this season and a total of 176 in 270 games for Tottenham, only Jimmy Greaves (266) and Bobby Smith (208) have more.
Kane has netted in two of Mourinho’s three matches in charge so far and Dele Alli has played ‘three phenomenal games’ according to his new manager. The only issue is at the back where the London club have conceded twice in each of those games which will be the one big concern for Jose.
Man United continue to stutter
Looking at Manchester United’s form table is like starting at a tri-colour rainbow road which highlights just how inconsistent they have been this season.
Not once have they managed back-to-back wins in the league which is simply shocking for a club of their history, budget and expectations. There is a growing pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and with Pochettino currently looking for a job, you feel that is only going to intensify if they continue to be as poor as they have been.
The 2-2 draw against Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday will have done the Norwegian no favours especially considering the visitors were the better team.
United now have 18 points from 14 games, their worst total at this stage of a season since 1988-89. That year they finished 11th.
Since keeping three consecutive Premier League clean sheets in February, United have only kept two in their last 25 games in the competition (36 goals conceded) which highlights one of their major problems this season.
Manchester United vs Tottenham betting tip
Spur have not looked good in defence in Mourinho’s first three games in charge, conceding two in each of them while United have scored six in their last two outings in the league. With this in mind, backing this one to finish with over 2.5 goals at odds of 4/5 with bet365 seems a sensible way to go here.
Post bet chat James's Tips:
Man Utd won 2-1 making sure this bet landed