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Tottenham face injury crisis with Rashford set to return - predicted XIs

talksport.com, 17 December 2024, 14:23
Tottenham welcome Manchester United later this week in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, and it's live on talkSPORT.

Spurs are desperate for silverware, having not won a trophy since their success in this competition in 2008.

Ange Postecoglou promised Tottenham fans that he would win a trophy this year and this tournament represents a great chance.

Meanwhile, it's a similar story for Ruben Amorim at Man United.

Since replacing Erik ten Hag, the Portuguese head coach has had a mixed start to life at Old Trafford.

A 2-1 win over Manchester City at the weekend was the highlight of his time so far, but if he can win here, he will be just two games away from matching his predecessor in winning the EFL trophy in his first season.

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Tottenham vs Man United: talkSPORT coverage

This Carabao Cup quarter-final tie is set to take place on Thursday, December 19.

talkSPORT will have live coverage from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with kick-off scheduled for 8pm.

Adrian Durham will serve as your presenter, while commentary comes from Sam Matterface and former England Women's striker Lianne Sanderson.

talkSPORT.com will also have all the reaction from the match.

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To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

Tottenham Hotspur are unbeaten in their last four games against Man Utd (W2 D2), all in the Premier League, and have beaten them 3-0 already this season. They haven't won consecutive games against them since April 1990 (three in a row).

In six previous League Cup ties between Spurs and Man Utd, both teams have eliminated one another three times each, although United have prevailed in the last two - they won the 2009 final on penalties and won 2-0 in the 2009-10 quarter-final.

Tottenham vs Man United: Team news and predicted XIs

Tottenham

Tottenham have a huge swathe of injury issues to deal with in various positions, so they are scrambling to assemble a squad.

Fraser Forster is likely to be in goal with Guglielmo Vicario still injured.

Djed Spence impressed at right-back at the weekend, but Pedro Porro is likely to come back in.

At left-back, Destiny Udogie came off during the 5-0 win over Southampton with a tight quad, but he's expected to be fine.

Manchester United star Joshua Zirkzee spotted goading Manchester City fans after full-time whistle

Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero both have hamstring issues, so Radu Dragusin and Archie Gray are likely to start in the heart of the defence.

Rodrigo Bentancur is currently banned from all domestic action, so Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr should be in midfield.

Heung-min Son suffered a knock, but Spurs will hope he's fine to play.

James Maddison bagged a brace on the south coast, and you can expect him to play as the most advanced midfielder, with Dejan Kulusevski on the right and Dominic Solanke leading the line.

Man United

Andre Onana is the undisputed Man United number one, but there could be rotation elsewhere.

Leny Yoro should get a chance in the side, with Harry Maguire dropping to the bench.

Noussair Mazraoui was withdrawn with a knock and could miss out, which would see a change in formation, with Amad Diallo playing at right-wing-back.

Diogo Dalot is more than likely to be on the left of the defence.

Kobbie Mainoo should join Manuel Ugarte in the heart of midfield.

Bruno Fernandes is likely to move into a more advanced role, with Alejandro Garnacho or Marcus Rashford competing for a place on the left.

Both were dropped from the squad at the weekend, but are expected to be back after Mason Mount limped off.

Rasmus Hojlund should keep his place in the XI leading the line.

Tottenham Hotspur have progressed from their last four League Cup quarter-final ties (2014-15, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22) since losing 2-1 to West Ham back in 2013-14.

Manchester United are the leading scorers in this season's League Cup with 12 goals, scoring 5+ goals in both wins (7-0 vs Barnsley, 5-2 vs Leicester). In League Cup history, the only team to score five or more goals in three games in a row were Chelsea in 2012 (6-0 vs Wolves, 5-4 vs Man Utd, 5-1 vs Leeds).

Tottenham vs Man United: What has been said?

After coming back from 1-0 down against City, Amorim expressed belief that he felt his side deserved to win.

He said: "We did a great job. We believed a lot. It was different to [the defeat at] Arsenal. There I didn't feel the belief. I did today.

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"Amad is in a good moment. Erik [ten Hag] brought him to the first team. Ruud [van Nistelrooy] did a great job. Now don't make the same mistakes we made in the past."

Man Utd's two League Cup wins this season have come under a different manager - 7-0 vs Barnsley in the third round under Erik ten Hag and 5-2 vs Leicester in the fourth round under Ruud van Nistelrooy. Now managed by Ruben Amorim, only three Premier League teams have progressed from three rounds in a row in a season under a different manager - Sunderland in 2013-14 (Di Canio, Ball, Poyet), Southampton in 2022-23 (Hasenhüttl, Sellés and Jones) and Wolves in 2022-23 (Lage, Davis, Lopetegui).

No player has more assists in the League Cup this season than either Spurs' Dejan Kulusevski (3) or Man Utd's Alejandro Garnacho (3). Garnacho also has three goals, becoming the first player with both 3+ goals and 3+ assists in a League Cup campaign since Kevin De Bruyne in 2015-16 (5 goals, 3 assists). The last Red Devils player with both was Louis Saha in 2005-06 (6 goals, 3 assists).

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