Tottenham face Manchester United on Wednesday evening in a game that could be huge in deciding both clubs’ eventual top four fates.
Indeed, both Spurs and United hope to be in the top four come the end of the season, and with the Premier League being tighter than ever, Champions League football may come down to who wins these head-to-head battles.
Spurs, of course, don’t have the best of historical records at Old Trafford, but they may be heading into this one as slight favourites after a strong start under Antonio Conte this season.
However, in order to beat the Red Devils, Spurs will have to be at their very best, and with that in mind, we’re going to have a go at predicting Tottenham’s starting XI for this one.
We think that Conte will make two changes from the team that beat Everton at the weekend.
This game comes just a few days after their last match, so Ivan Perisic is rotated for Ryan Sessegnon, but other than that, the backline remains the same.
The midfield is also unchanged with Rodrigo Bentancur partnering Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, but there is a change in attack.
Richarlison is out of action after sustaining a calf injury, and with Dejan Kulusevski also sidelined, Spurs will have to look towards another solution.
Conte did allude to the fact that Lucas Moura could play against United in his pre-match press conference.
“Tomorrow, Lucas Moura can be a possibility,” Conte said.
Therefore, we’re tipping Lucas to get his first start of the season here. We’re sure Conte won’t have forgotten that the last time the Brazilian played against an Erik ten Hag team, he scored a hat-trick in a Champions League semi-final, and he’ll be hoping to repeat that trick here.
Alongside Lucas is the trusted pairing of Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane as Spurs try to score a huge win over United away from home.
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