Tottenham Hotspur will go to Old Trafford on Wednesday night and Antonio Conte will play with all his men behind the ball, according to Paul Merson.
The Sky Sports pundit has been writing his latest predictions column for Sportskeeda ahead of the latest round of top-flight fixtures.
And he has issued a potential dig at the Lilywhites’ style of play despite Spurs having now made their best-ever start to a Premier League season.
Spurs have already opened up a seven-point gap on Erik ten Hag’s side and have only tasted defeat once so far in the Premier League.
However, despite having 62% possession against Everton on Saturday and not conceding a shot on Hugo Lloris’ goal, Merson expects Conte to instruct his men to sit behind the ball on Wednesday:
“I think Cristiano Ronaldo will play this game. I only say that because I know that Tottenham will play everybody behind the ball. Manchester United will need to put balls into the box, and Ronaldo is the best header of the ball in the world,” said Merson.
“This is a must-win game for Manchester United, and I don’t think that is the case for Tottenham. Antonio Conte will want to make sure his team doesn’t lose this match, and he’ll be the happier of the two managers with a draw. Tottenham will make sure they don’t lose this match.”
TIF Thoughts on Merson’s comments…
Tottenham have taken a fair bit of criticism in the early stages of the 2022/23 campaign with a number of pundits unimpressed by their style of play under the Italian.
Has the Spurs criticism been fair this season?
Yes
No
However, Spurs are getting the job done and are now level on points with the Manchester City side which many expect to go on and win the league.
This game on Wednesday feels like a big opportunity for Spurs to show some intent on where they want to take their season with what would feel like a statement victory if they were able to win.
Although Manchester United have had their issues already this season, they were able to beat the league leaders 3-1 at Old Trafford earlier in the season and will be searching for their first win in three games on Wednesday.