Tottenham Hotspur face Manchester United in the EFL Cup quarter final
After a lengthy run of fixtures in the Europa League and Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur are back in action in the Carabao Cup, a competition which they will want to win in order to bring an end to their trophy drought that has lasted for nearly two decades.
Ange Postecoglou’s side takes on Manchester United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday, December 19th, at 8:00 pm UK time in the quarter-final of the tournament, having beaten Manchester City by a 2-1 margin in their previous bout in the competition.
Spurs have already beaten Manchester United once this season as a 3-0 win at Old Trafford in the Premier League eventually culminated in Erik ten Hag’s sacking some weeks later. The Red Devils are now managed by Ruben Amorim, who will hope to deliver a positive result too.
Team News
Tottenham Hotspur
In spite of featuring in the cup competition, Tottenham Hotspur are likely going to field a very strong starting eleven given their desire of winning the trophy in 2025. A number of fringe players who would usually get their chances in the Carabao Cup would miss out on minutes as a result.
As far as injuries and suspensions go, the home side will be without Rodrigo Bentancur, Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Ben Davies, Mikey Moore, Richarlison and Wilson Odobert in the squad, all of whom are injured apart from the Uruguayan who is serving the last couple of his seven-match suspension.
PREDICTED TOTTENHAM XI (4-3-3): Forster; Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Udogie; Kulusevski, Bissouma, Maddison; Johnson, Solanke, Son
Manchester United
Manchester United are expected to be without three players for their trip to Tottenham Hotspur as Jonny Evans, Luke Shaw and Mason Mount are injured. It remains to be seen if the Red Devils will travel with Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford after they were dropped from the team which beat Manchester City at the weekend.
Ruben Amorim’s side will play in a more familiar 3-4-3 formation, one that they have adopted since the Portuguese coach was appointed some weeks back. They did lose 2-0 on their previous trip to north London when they faced Arsenal, so Postecoglou will hope that his men can exploit a relatively new-look Man United’s gaping holes.
PREDICTED MAN UNITED XI (3-4-3): Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez; Diallo, Mainoo, Ugarte, Dalot; Antony, Hojlund, Garnacho
Match-deciding duel
Pedro Porro vs Alejandro Garnacho
Alejandro Garnacho could make the starting eleven with Mason Mount injured and Marcus Rashford performing poorly in comparison with him. The Argentine international will go out to play against Tottenham Hotspur with a point to prove having been dropped from the Manchester Derby last weekend.
He will be up against a solid right back in Pedro Porro, who will not make his life easy in any way, however. While defensively the Spanish international should have the upper hand, it will be interesting to see if offensively Porro can get the better of a workhorse in Garnacho who will track back and do his bit without the ball to counter Spurs in their final third.
More Tottenham Hotspur News:
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- Not Toney – Tottenham put off by €50m asking price for striker whose contract expires in less than 12 months
- Tottenham now in position to hijack Chelsea deal for Serie A ace
Prediction
Tottenham 1-2 Manchester United
Tottenham Hotspur could fall narrowly to Manchester United, whose morale will be high after their derby win against Manchester City in the Premier League at the weekend. The Red Devils have more strength on the bench than Ange Postecoglou does, so it might ultimately prove to be the difference with a late match-winner ending the Lilywhites’ Carabao Cup run in the last eight.
