Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United 1st December 2013 Kick Off – 1:00pm

Predicted Line-ups: Manchester United - De Gea, Smalling, Evans, Ferdinand, Evra, Valencia, Jones, Fellaini, Nani, Kagawa, Rooney

Tottenham Hotspur - Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Kaboul, Vertonghen, Lennon, Sandro, Paulinho, Dembele, Lamela, Defoe

Well, well, well. Who would have had AVB as a man under the cosh by Advent at the start of the season?
Probably not me to be honest. Spurs go into this game with their manager under considerable pressure and on a two game league losing streak having had their pocket’s picked by Newcastle and getting humped 6-0 by Man City.

Considering he spent ALL OF THE MONEY in the
summer, AVB’s signings have offered a whole heap of sod all so far and the headline stat going into this one is that only Sunderland and Crystal Palace (two woefully inept sides) have scored less than them this season.

Spurs need goals and a convincing performance
ASAP, meaning it’s a crying shame for them that they’ve got to face a United side coming off the back of one of their most impressive Champions League performances ever - the Red Devils spanked Germany’s second best team 0-5 away from home.

Tough titties lads. You can read more on why United’s performance was so good right here but this is a major test of AVB’s stuttering side as United have a stonking record at White Hart Lane – they've not lost there since 2001 and, despite drawing with Cardiff last weekend, are now six games unbeaten in the PL.

Even Spurs’ midweek jaunt to Norway failed to bring much joy as they laboured to a 0-2 win over Tromso in the Europa League. That may sound like an alright result but when put in the context of the fact that Tromso, only in Europe due to the fair play award, got relegated from Norway’s top division three weeks ago, you can understand the frustration at such a uninspiring win from a side that featured a lot of big money signings.

On the team news front, Spurs’ quest for goals is hampered further by the fact that Manu Adebayor is unavailable due to a groin problem and creative hub, Christian Eriksen, will be out with a foot knack till late December.

This leaves the struggling Roberto Soldado and Toronto bound Jermain Defoe as the only CF options. Danny Rose is still recovering from an ankle problem meaning Jan Vertonghen will continue in his unflavoured left back slot.

The potential make up of Spurs’ midfield is anyone’s guess. I genuinely
don't think Villas Boas has a clue of his best line up so your word is as good as mine.

The good/bad news for United is that Robin Van
Persie should be fit and in contention for a place
following a groin strain. Manchester United looked their most fluent all season with Rooney ahead of Kagawa the other night and it must be tempting for Moyes to leave the Dutchman on the bench for this one.

Former Spurs man, Michael Carrick, remains a doubt whilst Rafael and Nemanja Vidic could be in line for returns here. Moyes’ major headache lies in the make up of his centre midfield – Giggs was superb in
Leverkusen but very much played the full 90 minutes and it's unlikely his 746 year old legs will manage a second run out in the space of a week.

That leaves dumb and dumber (Fellaini and Cleverly) to scrap it out
for a spot with Phil Jones, another who excelled in Germany. Score prediction – I think we’ll see a tight game here exacerbated by Spurs’ desperate need to not lose a third game on the bounce and David Moyes’ natural cautiousness.

Prior to their battering at City last week Spurs did have the PL’s second best defence and I
think that result can be marked down as a bit of a freak result owing to a world class attack really hitting their stride. I’m going to go for a 1-1 draw here with goals from Lennon and Rooney.