White Hart Lane closes its doors for the final time on Sunday after Tottenham Hotspur host a Manchester United side who were a bit fortunate to have clinched a spot in the Europa League final on Thursday.
Mou thanks ref for Herrera red
In truth though, the United XI could bare very little resemblance to the one which limped over the line against Celta Vigo in midweek, with Jose Mourinho set to once more rotate heavily just as he did when last in north London last weekend.
The meek 2-0 loss to Arsenal was notable for the league debuts of Axel Tuanzebe and Scott McTominay, and with United's first-team squad stretched to the limits and a Stockholm final against Ajax just 10 days off, Mourinho is likely to include more Under-23 stars in his squad for the farewell to White Hart Lane.
MAN UTD INJURIES
Marcos Rojo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Luke Shaw, Ashley Young and Timo Fosu-Mensah will all miss the remainder of United's season, the second-longest in the club's history. That leaves Mourinho short of options at left-back in particular, but it is the loss of numbers which makes it most difficult for the manager in light of the sheer weight of fixtures of late.
MAN UTD SUSPENSIONS
Marouane Fellaini sits out the final game of his three-match ban following his head-butt on Sergio Aguero in the Manchester derby last month, but will be back in the reckoning on Wednesday when United travel to Southampton.
MAN UTD POTENTIAL STARTING LINE-UP
While Mourinho is likely to shuffle his pack, the sending-off of Eric Bailly on Thursday at least means the Portuguese has one less player to rest up ahead of the Europa League final. That extra body in defence could help United give Matteo Darmian an afternoon off following his extra exertions of late, while there could be a debut for midfielder Matty Willock in order to rest Ander Herrera.
Besides Willock, attacker Scott McTominay and full-backs Demi Mitchell and Matthew Olosunde also trained with the first-team squad in midweek, suggesting all four could join Axel Tuanzebe in the matchday 18 at White Hart Lane. Other than the possible addition of one or two of those youngsters, United should be largely unchanged from the side which lost at Arsenal, with Phil Jones a candidate to fill in in one of the full-back positions.
TOTTENHAM TEAM NEWS
With the title race likely to be over by Sunday, the attention for Spurs will largely be on their stadium rather than their performance, but they will be sure to want to leave a positive impression as they wave goodbye to their home of 118 years.
Erik Lamela and Harry Winks will be unable to play a part due to their long-term injuries, while Danny Rose might well miss out once more due to injury. Ben Davies will deputise if he doesn't make it.
Until last week's loss to West Ham, Mauricio Pochettino's men were making a great fist of pushing Chelsea all the way in the challenge for the league title. But while those hopes have been extinguished, this will be one of those rare occasions when United arrive in N17 as clear second-favourites to win.
BEST OPTA MATCH FACTS
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Spurs’ only win in their last 15 home Premier League games against Manchester United came in last season’s 3-0 victory (D6 L8).
- Jose Mourinho has failed to win on his last four Premier League visits to White Hart Lane (D2 L2) and hasn’t won a league game there since August 2005, when his Chelsea side defeated Spurs 2-0.
- Spurs have lost more Premier League games against Manchester United than against any other opponent (32) – indeed, in their top-flight history Spurs have lost 77 games against the Red Devils, eight more than they have against anyone else.
- Tottenham could go unbeaten at home for the first time in a league season since 1964/65 (W16 D2 L0 this season).
- Jose Mourinho hasn’t seen his side score in an away league game against any of the current top six clubs since January 1st 2015 in a 3-5 defeat at Tottenham while Chelsea manager. Four of the seven games since have finished 0-0 (L3).
- Harry Kane has scored against 23 of the 25 clubs he’s faced with Tottenham in the Premier League – though he’s yet to score in six appearances against Manchester United.
- Three of Manchester United’s four Premier League defeats this season have been in games played on a Sunday immediately after a European match.
TV COVERAGE & KICK-OFF TIME
The final game at White Hart Lane kicks off at 16:30 UK time, with live television coverage on Sky Sports 1 in the UK.
