Next Sunday, 15th of March 2015, a deeply fragilized Manchester United will entertain an always unpredictable Tottenham at Old Trafford for round 29 of the English Premier League. The Red Devils cannot afford to lose the match, otherwise they will certainly drop some places on the EPL table and compromise their ambition of grabbing a place on the UEFA Champions League next season even further.

Last Monday night, under the floodlights of the Theater of Dreams, Manchester United let them supporters down once again this season as they were defeated by their rivals of Arsenal on the FA Cup Quarter-finals. The Red Devils had some interesting moments of football during the match and surprisingly enjoyed from more ball possession against an Arsenal that usually privileges that particular game style. Nevertheless, having more ball possession didn’t relate, by any means, to having the control of the match and United have somehow sucumbed to the Gunners’ pragmatic approach. The childish defensive mistakes were once again United’s Achilles’ heel. A poor back pass by Antonio Valencia offered Danny Welbeck the opportunity to score Arsenal’s winning goal against his former team, thus proving Louis Van Gaal that he was wrong in letting him go earlier this season.

By losing to Arsenal, the Red Devils pulverized their chances of winning a trophy this season and, after such setback, it is fair to ask how and if Van Gaal’s stewardship is, by any means, more positive than the one from his predecessor, David Moyes.

The upcoming match against the Spurs will most certainly be a complicated one for United, who, last season, sucumbed at Old Trafford 2-1 against the London team. For that particular clash, the Dutch manager will not be able to rely on the services of Di Maria, who is currently suspended and, of Robin Van Persie, who remains sidelined due to injury.

As for the Spurs, the London side seems to have managed to swipe their recent streak of bad results under the rug after winning their latest two league matches. Tottenham granted some precious three points on their visit to Loftus Road last weekend and changed places with Southampton on the sixth place of the EPL table.

With two wins in a row, the Spurs will certainly try to take advantage of United’s current shaky moment in order to grant the three points at Old Trafford for the second time in two consecutive seasons.

For the clash against the Red Devils, the Spurs’ manager Mauricio Pochettino will probably be able to rely on all his players, since there aren’t currently any names in the team’s injury list.

It is hard to name any favourites for this particular match and given both sides’ recent inconsistency, the most likely outcome for next Sunday’s clash is a draw.

Manchester United

Stats: W-3 L-2 D-0

Recent Form - LWWLW

Tottenham

Stats: W-2 L-2 D-1

Recent Form - WWLLD

Possible Line-ups

Manchester United (4-3-1-2) – De Gea - Jones - Rojo - Valencia - Smalling - Blind - Mata - Herrera - Fellaini - Young - Rooney

Tottenham (4-2-3-1) - Lloris - Vertonghen - Dier  - Walker - Davies - Bentaleb - Mason - Townsend - Eriksen - Chadli - Kane

Prediction

Manchester United 1 Tottenham 1