A “ridiculous” Manchester United duo and a rejuvenated Luke Shaw have been tipped to play a key role in the Red Devils’ clash against Tottenham on Saturday.
Ruben Amorim takes his side to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where Spurs have claimed just one Premier League victory this season, losing three and drawing the other, with the nadir arriving in defeat to Chelsea last weekend, when they were entirely outplayed by their London rivals.
But United have only managed a single win on the road this season – the 2-1 win over Liverpool at Anfield – making this a particularly tough game to call.
But former Arsenal defender Martin Keown is backing United, highlighting key players who could make the difference.
“I feel Manchester United are just slightly ahead,” Keown said on talkSPORT.
“Spurs are struggling to win a home game, I think it’s only one win in five, but away from home, they’ve been quite magnificent. We have to say it’s an improvement.
“I think finally the players have taken on board what the manager’s asked them to do. I think it’s from [Matheus] Cunha and [Bryan] Mbeumo, the amount of work they’re doing is absolutely ridiculous.
“They retreat to the edge of their own box, they’re able to get three players on the sides and what’s happening is, if you’re looking at Luke Shaw, he’ll come out now, from the back three so go and press and then Amad on the right will form a back four.
“There’s a lot of information for those players. It’s taken them a hell of a lot time but now look at the number of chances that they’re creating. I mean, they have eight shots on target against Arsenal at the start of the season.
“I think in the sum total since then, it’s maybe eight from all the opponents Arsenal played since, so it gives you an idea this is a Manchester United side that seem to be improving but there’s some way to go.”
Keown also noted Spurs weaknesses that United could look to exploit.
“I’ve just sat down the last hour and watched the game last week against Chelsea and honestly, stop, start, no intensity, not pressing from the front,” Keown added.
“Thomas Frank, I’ve been impressed with him, there was an incident after the game where the players refused to shake his hand.
“I’m not even sure Thomas Frank should have been on the pitch at that point, because this might have worked at Brentford but when you’re playing Chelsea, they’re an nemesis team for Spurs, you think about when they denied them winning the league all those years ago.
“He probably shouldn’t have been there, they were hurting and rightly so, but I like Thomas Frank. But there’s an intensity or lack of intensity at home which they’re suffering from at the moment.”