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2022/23 English Premier League
Matchday 33
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
London, England
Thursday, 27 April 2023
Kick-off is at 21h15
Manchester United will aim to keep the momentum going in the
Premier League when they lock horns with Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday, April 27.
The Red Devils beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 at the City ground on April 16 to make it three league wins on the spin and cement their place in the top four.
Erik ten Hag's side were involved in the FA Cup this past weekend and dropped to fourth in the standings as a result after Newcastle thrashed Spurs 6-1 at St James' Park to reclaim third spot.
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Cristian Stellini's team trail United by six points in fifth position having played two games more and a second successive defeat has further damaged their chances of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.
The North Londoners are now fighting for Europa League football, although Aston Villa (6th), Liverpool (7th) Brighton (8th) are breathing down their necks, with just four points separating the four clubs.
Harry Kane keeps the goals ticking over despite their recent struggles and he's just one shy of reaching 25 in a season for the fourth time in his career. The England striker has been a model of consistency this term, never going more than two games without finding the back of the net and has scored six goals in his last six appearances.
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Anthony Martial could yet have an important part to play for United after recovering from his latest injury setback. The French striker has been limited to just 20 appearances across all competitions due to a spate of injuries but started the last three games against Forest (Premier League), Sevilla (Europa League) and Brighton (FA Cup) after coming off the bench to score in the recent 2-0 win over Everton.
In team news, Hugo Lloris suffered an injury setback against Newcastle and joins Rodrigo Bentancur, Emerson Royal (both knee), Yves Bissouma (ankle) and Ryan Sessegnon (thigh) on the sidelines for the hosts. Donny van de Beek (knee), Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, Tom Heaton and Alejandro Garnacho (all ankle) continue to be unavailable for the visitors, while Bruno Fernandes (ankle) is considered doubtful.
Stellini issued an apology for the horror show on Tyneside, which saw Tottenham concede four goals inside the opening 21 minutes, and has called on his players to stand up and be counted when United arrive in the capital.
"First of all, I apologise to everyone, because the start of this performance was really, really unacceptable," the Italian told SPURSPLAY.
"The best thing we can say is that we apologise to everyone, the second is to analyse why, and if the change of system affected this performance, because the performance in the first 25 minutes was really bad.
"Now, we have to be responsible. We have to go back to our stadium, back after this performance. We have to throw this feeling away, immediately."
Ten Hag hailed the performances of Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw in the heart of defence against the Seagulls as the duo stepped up in the absence of regular centre-backs Martinez and Varane, with the Swedish defender scoring the winning penalty in the shootout to book United's place in the FA Cup final.
"I've talked all season about more than the starting XI," the Dutchman said. "Victor Lindelof, it's so great for him. He's played his games but not as much as he probably expected. Now is his chance and he's taken his chance because he was there.
"Luke showed composure in defending and organising, building up and he played a decent game. This is what we expected. For the rest of the season, some players, we have to rely on them and I talked about it all season."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Tottenham - 1
Man United - 4
Draws - 0
Matchday 33 fixtures:
Tuesday, April 25
20h30: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace
20h45: Aston Villa v Fulham
21h00: Leeds United v Leicester City
Wednesday, April 26
20h30: Nottingham Forest v Brighton & Hove Albion
20h45: West Ham United v Liverpool
20h45: Chelsea v Brentford
21h00: Manchester City v Arsenal
Thursday, April 27
20h45: Everton v Newcastle United
20h45: Southampton v Bournemouth
21h15: Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United
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