Man United vs. Tottenham: Red Devils head coach Michael Carrick will be "in real trouble" if hosts lose at Old Trafford

Ahead of Manchester United's Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, Sports Mole's Football Editor Matt Law discusses the Red Devils.

Matt Law, Football Editor: "I think United win, but it is going to involve some real suffering"

A lot of people said the same thing about it being a really good game for Man United. But the state Man United are in these days, I just don't feel confident in any game, and that probably says a lot about where they are as a club. 

We must remember that Tottenham have won five of the last eight games between these two sides. Recent history will suggest that Tottenham will be thinking they can go to Man United and pick up a good result. 

Manchester United did win this game last season 2-0, but that was their first win since 2022, and it's been a really long time. There was a stage where they lost four in a row against Tottenham, including the Europa League final, which was a real bad one for the club. 

Quality-wise from both sides, Fulham against Manchester United last time out was one of the worst games I've seen. Gary Neville said it in commentary as well, with the 30 minutes either side of half time being some of the worst he had seen. 

I had never really seen it before. There was no pressing from either team. They were recycling the ball along the back and no one was pressing forward trying to win the ball. 

It is just not working at the moment. The Brighton game at home was a bad one after going 2-0 up, and they then came really close to losing against Fulham. 

They were saved by that Cunha deflected effort late on. There have been a lot of big games for Man United in their history, but this just feels like a really big one for so many reasons. 

If you lose this one, suddenly you are going to the Atletico Madrid game away next week. 

Then they play Leeds away in the Premier League and it could suddenly go really badly for Michael Carrick in a short amount of time. 

Or look at it the other way: they go and win this game, get a good result at Atletico, beat Leeds, they have Como in the Champions League as well, and then Bournemouth at home at the end of the month. It is very delicately balanced either way. 

Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo were not in the England squad. Sesko has had a recurrence of that shin problem. There are hopes that Amad Diallo will be able to make the squad for the first time this season, having been out with an ankle injury. 

De Ligt is not too far away now. Dorgu and Mazraoui picked up issues on international duty and need to be assessed. Fernandes had a niggle with Portugal but has since played and is fit, which is a big boost. They still have players who were not away as well. 

I think they win, and I think it is going to be tight. But I am not jumping around the room thinking we are going to pick up three points here, because you just can't feel like that about Man United at the moment. 

If Carrick has some bad results now, he is in real trouble. There has been talk of Conte coming in for a third spell in the Premier League, but I just can't see that myself personally. 

I do feel like in the coming weeks I am going to be writing some more features about potential replacements for Carrick because it is just a tough run of games. Leeds away, Atletico away, Champions League, Bournemouth in there. 

It is a tough October for Manchester United and they need to get players back fit and firing. Their big players need to step forward.

They need Marcus Rashford to score or assist. He has had some decent games this season where he has come close to scoring or getting an assist. They need him to do something to get his confidence up and get everyone flowing. 

They need to score first on Sunday. If they take the lead, I'm feeling quite good about it. 

If they go behind, the crowd turns and players start doing silly things as we have seen this season. The defensive issues have been the problem all season. I think United win, but it is going to involve some real suffering.