[Pexbo]

That's possibly not far off from what we'll see. Is Rojo definitely out, then? And Young passes the fitness test? We have picked up a fair few points against top opposition with the 3-5-2 so i'm all for it. Let's grind out those points, please.

"Are you sure you want to pick 7 midfielders?"

 

[The Stain]

"Are you sure you want to pick 7 midfielders?"

This line-up would ensure we beat Moyes' crossing stat v Fulham

 

[Loublaze]

2-0 to United

 

[Deleted member 78215]

Gone for:

DDG
Valencia - Smalling - Rojo - Shaw
Blind
Mata - Fellaini - Herrera - Young
Rooney
​

Hard to say, though.

 

[NickSantigo]

De Gea

Valencia - Jones - Rojo - Blind

Herrera - Carrick

Januzaj - Mata - Young
Rooney

Doubt he'll go with this as LVG seems to have a hard on fro Fellani
Can't see why he won't start Mata behind Rooney

 

[SiRed]

3 nil win today---- i have a feeling

 

[Sunny Jim]

Have a feeling we lose today 1:2 with a late goal conceeded when pushing for a winner.

 

[ricky-romeo]

------------------------de gea----------------------------
rafael--------smalling----------rojo-------------shaw
valencia------carrick----------herrera--------------young
-------------------------mata---------------------------
-----------------------rooney--------------------------

 

[Sunny Jim]

I look forward to Fellani/Carrick/Blind all being in the team, which will result in us playing slow, boring, terrible football, Spurs winning, and LVG left scratching his head wondering where it all went wrong.

No matter how tempting the scenario of getting rid of LVG is we really have to stick to him even if we fail to finish top 4.

Its like you know you need to get yer hand into the toilet seat to get out that sanitary towel which is blocking the toilet. Not pleasent but there is no other way.

 

[Scarecrow]

Some very weird line-ups on here. In my opinion Mata, Januzaj and Fellaini should be nowhere near the starting 11 today. They're very unreliable when put under pressure and pressure is what Spurs are all about.
I thought we all knew how this game would go - either our controlled possession style and their high-intensity one will tire them into submission late into the game, or their harassing tactics will cause our nervous and error-prone players to crumble and concede (probably early on).
Our best bet would therefore be to keep the number of those nervous and error-prone players to a minimum. That means dropping those I've named above and playing the likes of Carrick, Blind, Rooney, Herrera (makes mistakes as well but can at least move the ball quickly), Young, Valencia (I know his last game contradicts that but I think it was more of an exception than a regular occurrence).
I know we'd all like to see the lethargic, slow, risk-free, possession-based style dropped for something more exciting. Let's face it though - it's not happening, at least for now. Might as well make the most of it and at least get some results.

 

[Tincanalley]

Been one of our best players this season in my opinion. That's my reason. I don't judge him on one mistake.

Yes, Valencia can be a handful for defenders, just knowing that he is going to be attacking that corner with pace and strength. I know his crossing can be a bit miss or hit, but he has done reasonably well overall I think.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Both teams have also played several teams twice, but for Spurs that includes Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea. The fact that you are currently above us in the table cannot be simply disconnected from the remaining fixture lists.

Therefore, is it not better to exclude the last 9 games and compare both teams over the first half of the season, where we played the exact same teams?

We were higher than Spurs, then.

 

[Bruno8]

Carrick, Mata and Rafael should be back in starting X1

Debate is on who to partner Carrick with. Spurs attack from the middle and we will need a grafter. Think it will be a toss up between Blind and Herrera and I can see LvG picking Blind.

Either way we should win this one

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[DB17]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

This tweet is from yesterday. Is it going to be reliable?

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

This tweet is from yesterday. Is it going to be reliable?

That guy has been reliable. Got a few things right this season so far, including the lineup from our last game against Arsenal (predicted Fellaini start and Rooney up top).

 

[NotoriousISSY]

Carrick and Mata in for Blind and Fellaini and I think it'll be a much easier afternoon.

Blind hasn't been playing well at all recently. Not shockingly bad, but alongside Herrera I would rather see Carrick all day long. Fellaini, okay he's effective because he has long legs and you can lump it to him, but he's as poor under immense pressure as the little man Mata can be. And for a guy who's head is his biggest selling point, he's not that good in the air.

 

[lifted]

I think it could be Blind and Carrick anchoring the midfield, which would mean Mata doesn't have quite so much defensive responsibility.

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

I think it could be Blind and Carrick anchoring the midfield, which would mean Mata doesn't have quite so much defensive responsibility.

Same, I'm hoping for this:

--------------De Gea
Rafael---Smalling--Rojo---Shaw
----------Carrick---Blind
----Valencia---Mata---Young
--------------Rooney

 

[Bruno8]

A Rafael -Valencia combo on the right side today will be a throw-back to the good olden days of power pace and tenacity

 

[wr8_utd]

After LVG's comments on Rafael, I think he'll start today.

 

[newgiz]

Huge huge game. Come on you reds!!

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

I hope Mata plays today. Di Maria's not been great, but I still think we will miss him, as he take risks and at least tries to make things happen.

 

[Bruno8]

Against big teams this season I will take a scrappy 1-0 win over good performnace.

Results matter at this stage of the season

 

[Truedevil]

What i want to see:

De Gea
Rafael-Smalling-Rojo-Shaw
Blind
Herrera-Mata
Januzaj------------Young
Rooney
​

Quick, tidy midfield with pacey wingers and an inform striker upfront. Also solid defence with quick fullbacks helping the wingers in breaking down Spurs' defence. A Bentaleb-Mason-Eriksen midfield is not something that would require Fellaini or both Carrick and Blind on the pitch today imo.

​

 

[GlastonSpur]

Therefore, is it not better to exclude the last 9 games and compare both teams over the first half of the season, where we played the exact same teams?

We were higher than Spurs, then.

Well, you can ignore the remaining fixture list if you want to ... but that won't make it disappear. And if you want to focus on the first half of the season, then you might also take into account the large number of extra games that Spurs played in all competitions compared to United: it's a lot easier to do well in the league when that's more or less your only focus.

 

[legball]

I hope it's a midfield 3 of Carrick, Blind and Herrera. I'm not really enthusiastic as many here as regards Mata, Spurs will press and Mata doesn't do well in such situations.

 

[Zoo]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[Anduin]

Decent chance today to put some more pressure on City and leave Spurs and Southampton behind, if Chelsea do the job against them at the bridge. Come on United, don't feck this up... surely we won't lose three times in a row against Spurs at home!

 

[ariel]

Carrick and Mata in for Blind and Fellaini and I think it'll be a much easier afternoon.


My thought exactly. The combination of Carrick and Blind does not work in midfield (until Arsenal, whenever playing together one of them was not in MF) and Carrick is the better player.
Also think its about time to give Mata some playing time and maybe gain some creativity.

 

[GlastonSpur]

Barring any injury news that I've not heard about I'd expect the following line-up from Spurs:

--------- Lloris
Walker - Dier - Vertonghen - Rose
------ Mason - Bentaleb
Townsend - Eriksen - Chadli
------------- Kane

Although Lamela instead of either Chadli or Townsend is a possibility.

 

[Dobba]

Have no confidence in us at all today. Can see us losing by 2 goals.

 

[gooDevil]

That guy has been reliable. Got a few things right this season so far, including the lineup from our last game against Arsenal (predicted Fellaini start and Rooney up top).

I think everyone predicted that last one.

 

[BringNaniBack]

This is what I hope we see:

--------------De Gea
Rafael---Smalling--Rojo---Shaw
--------Carrick---Herrera
----Valencia---Mata---Januzaj
--------------Rooney

I really do not want to see Carrick and Blind, I don't think they will work well together both being so similar and so slow. I may have had Young in over Januzaj but heard Young may be injured.

Im a confident of a good win today for once. 3-1, depending on the line up.

 

[shabadu84]

Probably all a tease but if we get close to
DDG
Rafael Smalling Rojo Shaw
Herrera Carrick
Januzaj Mata Young
Rooney

I think we'd be at least an exciting watch. Prob Valencia instead of Januzaj or Rafael and Blind instead of Herrera likely.

 

[Ephrem]

Have no confidence in us at all today. Can see us losing by 2 goals.

It's been a while we lost by 2 goals

 

[Touseef]

Have no confidence in us at all today. Can see us losing by 2 goals.

I hope you're a spurs fan.

 

[SirAF]

Come on lads, show some balls.. We're going to do Spurs today!

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Well, you can ignore the remaining fixture list if you want to ... but that won't make it disappear. And if you want to focus on the first half of the season, then you might also take into account the large number of extra games that Spurs played in all competitions compared to United: it's a lot easier to do well in the league when that's more or less your only focus.

Ignoring for the sake of making a proper argument. If we argue, we're higher than Spurs, you'll say you've played more or played harder teams. The way I see it, we're higher than you after 28 games, so who's had a better season, so far? If you beat us, today and go level on points with us, you, rightfully, can argue you're having a better season.

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

Keane recounted one particular incident which exemplified the manager’s prowess: “It was Tottenham at home.

“I thought, ‘please don’t go on about Tottenham, we all know what Tottenham is about, they are nice and tidy but we’ll f****** do them’.

“He came in and said: ‘Lads, it’s Tottenham.’ And that was it. Brilliant.

The good old days when "Lad's, it's Tottenham" was all that was required in order for the team to go out and batter Spurs.