Graeme Souness has warned Tottenham that Manchester United will look to hit them on the counter attack on Saturday in their Premier League clash.
Spurs travel to Old Trafford at the weekend for a league encounter and the two teams are locked together on 20 points after nine games.
They are the closest challengers to table toppers Manchester City and will be looking to close the five-point gap to them this weekend.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side managed to smash Liverpool 4-1 in their last league outing, but will be looking to bounce back from their 3-2 loss to West Ham in mid-week during the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho’s team safely secured their place in the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over Swansea, but suffered a shock 2-1 loss to Huddersfield last weekend in the league.
Sky Sports pundit Souness believes that United will look to sit back against Spurs and then hit them on the break, warning them of dangerous pair Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.
“Spurs will try and get on the front foot and stay there, while United will try to pick them off,” Souness wrote in his column for Sky Sports.
“Spurs don’t want to play too high up the field against United though, because their pace with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial could hurt them.”
Rashford has been in great form at the start of the season and already have seven goals plus five assists in 15 games across all competitions.
The 19-year-old is renowned for his blistering pace and intelligent decision making in the final third.
Martial, 21, is another pacy wide option in the United squad and he has also impressed this campaign with five goals plus six assists in 13 games.
OPINION
Spurs will be fully aware about the danger of United’s attackers on the counter attack and will be prepared to deal with Mourinho’s difficult tactics. The North London club do have very talented full-backs in their squad, with the duo of Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies the most likely options out wide to cope with United’s width. They also have Serge Aurier and Danny Rose in their squad who could be deployed by Pochettino due to their pace to combat the likes of Rashford and Martial. Souness expects Spurs to dominate the ball when they visits Old Trafford and that could prove very crucial as in-form striker Harry Kane may only need one sniff at goal to score.