Good morning! Thank you very much for joining
Sports Mole for today's early Premier League kickoff, and what a way to get the weekend started as second-place
Manchester United host third-place
Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford.
Only goal difference separates these two sides in the table, but they are both playing catch-up to leaders Manchester City, who begin the weekend five points clear. We will have a closer look at both sides a little later, but first let's check out the team news...
MAN UTD STARTING XI: De Gea; Bailly, Jones, Smalling; Valencia, Herrera, Matic, Young; Mkhitaryan, Rashford, Lukaku
MAN UTD SUBS: Romero, Blind, Darmian, McTominay, Mata, Lingard, Martial
TOTTENHAM STARTING XI: Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Dier, Winks, Sissoko, Eriksen, Dele; Son
TOTTENHAM SUBS: Vorm, Rose, Sanchez, Trippier, Dembele, Nkoudou, Llorente
What can we make of those two teams, then?
Well, we'll start with the hosts, who recall all of their available big-hitters after they were rested for the EFL Cup win over Swansea in midweek, including striker Romelu Lukaku. Only Tottenham's injured Harry Kane has scored more goals than him in the Premier League so far this season, but the Belgian is going through a mini-drought at the moment having not found the back of the net in 297 minutes following his blistering start to life in a United shirt.
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Despite scoring seven goals in his first seven league games for United and 10 in his first nine, the criticism of Lukaku remains that he doesn't do enough in the biggest games, so there will be questions for him to answer today.
The striker has only scored 15 goals in his previous 58 Premier League appearances against members of the 'big six', which is an average of a goal every 289 minutes. He has also only ever scored once in eight previous meetings with Tottenham during his time at West Brom and Everton.
Lukaku will be joined in a front three by Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford today, with the latter making his final appearance as a teenager. Rashford has scored 13 Premier League goals in his teen years, leaving him second to only Wayne Rooney as the highest-scoring teenagers in the division's history. A hat-trick today would see him surpass that mark.
As for Mkhitaryan, he began the season in brilliant form with five assists from his opening three league games, but he has failed to add to that tally since August. Nonetheless, he is recalled to the team today having been left out of the starting lineup for last weekend's loss to Huddersfield.
Mourinho was fiercely critical of United's performance at the John Smith's Stadium, so it is no surprise to see him change things up a bit for today's game, with a switch of formation back to a 3-4-3 system.
There are only three personnel changes, though, with Rashford and Mkhitaryan coming back into the fold alongside Eric Bailly, who returns from injury having not featured since the international break. Jones has overcome an injury concern to start too, slotting into the back three alongside Bailly and Smalling.
The headline news for Tottenham is, of course, that Harry Kane misses out through the hamstring injury he sustained during last weekend's impressive win over Liverpool.
The news is a massive blow for Spurs, and Llorente had been tipped to make his full Premier League debut for Spurs as a replacement, but instead Mauricio Pochettino opts for Son to lead the line. The forward needs just one more goal to reach 20 in the Premier League, which would see him overtake Park Ji-Sung - formerly of United - as the competition's highest-scoring South Korean.
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Kane and Son both started up front in the win over Liverpool, and the likes of Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen will also provide firepower for Spurs today, but there is no doubting that Kane is a huge loss.
The England international is arguably the best striker in world football right now, holding his place as the Premier League's top scorer with eight goals. Indeed, this calendar year he has scored 29 goals in just 26 Premier League appearances - just seven short of Alan Shearer's all-time record for a single year, set in 1995.
Interestingly, Tottenham appear to have opted for a back four for this afternoon's match, which is perhaps something United would not have been expecting.
The personnel selected - namely Eric Dier - means that they could switch to a back three quickly, but the exclusion of Sanchez suggests that they will play Dier and Winks in a deeper midfield role with Sissoko, Eriksen and Alli further forward in a 4-2-3-1 system.
In all, Pochettino has made three changes from last weekend's win over Liverpool, with Trippier, Sanchez and Kane all dropping out of the starting lineup.
Aurier retains his place but is expected to play in his more familiar right-back role, with Davies returning on the left and Dier also coming back into the side. Danny Rose started against West Ham in the EFL Cup in midweek, but is not deemed fit enough just yet to start in the Premier League.
Even without Kane, there is plenty of quality in that Tottenham team, and Manchester United know that they will not be in for an easy time of things this afternoon.
Jose Mourinho's side made an impressive start to the season, but they were also handed a kind start by the fixture computer and they have begun to slip up a little since the going has got tougher. A goalless draw at Anfield is exactly what they played for, but last weekend's shock defeat to Huddersfield was a setback they would not have been expecting.
That two-match winless run in the Premier League already constitutes their worst spell of form this season, and they have not gone three without a victory since May, when their focus was on the Europa League instead.
Across all competitions it is a different story, though, with United having returned to winning ways with a 2-0 win over Swansea City in the EFL Cup on Tuesday. The holders will next face Bristol City in the quarter-finals in December.
Last weekend's loss to Huddersfield was United's first in their last 14 matches across all competitions - a run which includes 11 wins and stretches back to their Super Cup defeat at the hands of Real Madrid.
It is here at Old Trafford where Mourinho's side have been the most impressive, though. They have won all six matches here across all competitions, scoring 21 goals and conceding just one in the process, with five clean sheets to their name. They have scored four goals in four separate occasions already at home this season, including in each of their last three outings.
Including the end of last season, United today have the chance to win eight consecutive home games in all competitions for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club.
Only Manchester City have picked up more points in front of their own fans this season, although they have played a game more and United have amassed as many as possible at home so far, with four wins from four. Arsenal are the only other club with a 100% home record in the Premier League this season, but United are also yet to concede a single goal here, scoring 14 unanswered in the process.
Another victory and clean sheet this afternoon would see United win six consecutive home league games without conceding for the first time since March 2010, when they managed seven on the bounce.
Their unbeaten record stretches even further back than that, with United last suffering a league defeat at Old Trafford more than a year ago, in a 2-1 loss to Manchester City in September 2016. Draws have been a problem in that time, with 10 compared to only 11 wins, but they today have the chance to win six in a row for the first time since April 2016.
Having recently faced Liverpool too, this is a much tougher part of the fixture schedule for United, and a lot of questions will be asked of their title credentials throughout that time.
The draw with Liverpool garnered lots of criticism for Mourinho's defensive tactics and, while we are unlikely to see a repeat today due to their home advantage, it may be a similar story when Mourinho returns to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea next weekend.
For what it is worth this afternoon, Mourinho certainly holds the edge over
Mauricio Pochettino when it comes to meetings between the two managers.
Mourinho has won all five of his previous home meetings with his opposite number, with an aggregate score of 15-1 in that time. Another victory here would see them temporarily close the gap on Manchester City to two points, with the leaders not in action until a 3pm trip to face West Brom.
The same is true of Tottenham, though, who took full advantage of United's slip-up last weekend to move level on points with the Red Devils, with only goal difference keeping them down in third place.
Spurs have been the nearest challengers to the champions in each of the past two seasons, and they look set to launch another challenge this time around having made their best start to a top-flight campaign since 1963.
Spurs are one point and two places better off than the same stage of last season, with only the top two having scored more and conceded fewer than Pochettino's side despite their relatively quiet summer transfer window - at least in comparison to the teams around them in the table.
Silverware is the next milestone to tick off to mark their definite progression, although their hopes of doing that this season took a blow on Wednesday when they were knocked out of the EFL Cup at the hands of West Ham.
That midweek defeat to the Hammers would have dented Tottenham's confidence a little, with the hosts throwing away a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 against one of their fiercest rivals at Wembley.
Not only was it a disappointing home defeat to a rival, but it also came against a team who were really low on confidence heading into that game. Manager Slaven Bilic reportedly only had two games to save his job, but that is exactly the type of result which could help turn West Ham's season around.
The EFL Cup is, however, the lowest of Tottenham's priorities this season, so to be eliminated from the competition is not the end of the world for the North Londoners.
It is also their only defeat in their last 12 matches across all competitions, although they will be desperate to bounce back this afternoon. Spurs have not lost back-to-back matches since February, when they lost to Liverpool before being beaten by Gent in the Europa League.
Spurs beat Liverpool 4-1 in their last Premier League outing, seemingly putting to bed the rumours of a Wembley curse - although Wednesday's result may have caused them to resurface now.
It is away from home that Tottenham have been most impressive this season, though, with no side picking up more points or scoring more goals on the road in the Premier League. Spurs have a 100% record with four wins from four games, which is something only Manchester City can match.
Indeed, stretching back to last season Tottenham have now won their last six Premier League away games in a row, scoring a whopping 25 goals in the process.
Only once in that run have they scored fewer than three goals in a game - a 2-0 win over Newcastle - while stretching even further back they have won nine of their last 10 league away games, with a 1-0 defeat at West Ham in May the only exception.
Another victory this afternoon would see them win seven top-flight away games on the bounce for the first time since a run of 10 in 1960.
This is a potentially season-defining run of games for Tottenham at the moment, with this match coming in the midst of an eight-match streak which includes two meetings with Real Madrid, three London derbies - including the North London clash with Arsenal - and matches against Liverpool, Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund.
One of those London derbies has already seen them knocked out of the EFL Cup, but the rest of the games could have a major impact on their hopes both domestically and in Europe this season.
PREDICTION: Right, we're 10 minutes from kickoff at Old Trafford, which means that it is time for a prediction!
This game is so tough to call as it pits a perfect home record against a perfect away record. Harry Kane is a huge miss for Tottenham, though, and that could prove to be the difference between the two sides today. It should be a close one, and could do either way, but I'm going to plump for a narrow home victory.
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Manchester United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
United have notoriously been a bogey team for Tottenham down the years, to the extent that Ferguson's team talk ahead of this game was once simply "Lads, it's Tottenham".
That has changed a little in recent years, though. Spurs have still only won four of the last 32 top-flight meetings between these sides, but all four of those wins have come in the last 10 clashes, with three draws and three defeats in that time.
One of those victories came the last time these two sides met, in what was the farewell game at White Hart Lane when Tottenham held on to record a 2-1 win in May, although none of the goalscorers that day are available this afternoon.
Victory for Tottenham today would make it back-to-back league wins for United for the first time since April 1990, but their dreadful record here at Old Trafford suggests that they will not be able to do that.
Tottenham have lost 20 of their 25 Premier League away games against United, which is their biggest tally of defeats away to any club in the division.
That run also includes just two wins, which are Tottenham's only victories in their last 31 trips to Old Trafford. United have won their last three Premier League home games against Spurs without conceding a single goal, including a 1-0 win in the corresponding fixture last season when Mkhitaryan scored the only goal of the game.
Right, we're very nearly ready for kickoff at Old Trafford, so let me give you a quick recap of the team news for this huge top-of-the-table encounter...
MAN UTD STARTING XI: De Gea; Bailly, Jones, Smalling; Valencia, Herrera, Matic, Young; Mkhitaryan, Rashford, Lukaku
TOTTENHAM STARTING XI: Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Dier, Winks, Sissoko, Eriksen, Dele; Son
KICKOFF: Here we go, then! Tottenham get us underway at Old Trafford!
United make their first break forward as Young plays a ball down the left for Lukaku, who bursts forward before putting a low cross into the box. Lloris cuts it out, and it is important he does so as otherwise Rashford would have had a tap-in.
United have started this match brightly, and with two up front too. Lukaku and Rashford have started alongside each other, with Mkhitaryan behind them in the hole.
Good play by Young as he skips past one man on his way into the box before pulling a ball back into the middle which is just behind two red shirts.
Spurs have been slow to settle into this game - they have given the ball away cheaply on a number of occasions and look a little jittery. United, by contrast, have begun very much on the front foot.
Almost a chance for United to break as Lloris's clearance is nodded straight to Lukaku in a dangerous position. The Belgian gives it to Rashford, but Alderweireld makes a crucial challenge to slow things down.
United still have the ball, though, and it eventually ends up with Lukaku putting a cross to nobody at the back post. A good attacking platform goes begging.
Tottenham's first shot of the afternoon comes from Aurier, but it is a speculative one and is never really troubling De Gea.
SAVE! Rashford tries his luck from range, this time from a free kick, and Lloris needs to make a save. It is a dipping strike which is difficult to deal with, but Lloris gets across to push it wide.
Tottenham have begun to settle into the game now. They are enjoying more possession now and, even though most of it is coming inside their own half, they are at least getting themselves on the ball.
United have barely had a kick of the ball in the last few minutes. Spurs - right now - are dominating possession, but they have not been able to do much with it so far.
There hasn't been much goalmouth action to speak of in this opening 20 minutes or so, with Rashford's long-range free kick the only real sight of goal either side have had. It's been a slow burner so far.
SAVE! Sissoko finds himself in a lot of space in midfield and so chooses to try his luck from a long way out, but it has to be a special strike to beat De Gea from there and this one is not. De Gea gathers it comfortably.
SHOT! Alderweireld is the latest to try his luck with a speculative effort from range, but this time it hits the side-netting. De Gea once again looked to have it covered.
United were on top in the opening exchanges, but it is Tottenham who are controlling this game now. They are seeing a lot more of the ball and keeping United pinned back in their own half.
Young tries to drop a long ball over the top, but it is too long for Lukaku and the Belgian was offside anyway. Not much joy going forward for either side right now.
Some of Tottenham's decision-making has been questionable with their long shots so far, but in truth they don't have many other options at the moment. The defences are very much on top here.
A header from Matic almost puts his side in trouble inside the box, but Jones just about deals with it before he is set upon by Son.
CHANCE! This must go down as a chance in a game like this, and it stems from a rare error from De Gea. The keeper comes out to collect a ball into the box but then collides with Jones and spills it. It is played back to Sissoko but, with De Gea still out of position, Sissoko slices a poor effort well off target.
Ashley Young is involved in a couple of flash points in quick succession, with Alli involved too, but the referee deems a talking-to enough for both players.
We've had more than half an hour at Old Trafford now, and it hasn't been a classic so far. We're still waiting for our first really clear chance.
Good defending from Young as he recovers to follow a run of Aurier and calmly knock the ball back to De Gea when it looked for a moment as though the Spurs full-back may have been in behind.
SAVE! Alli almost has a chance from a corner as he rises highest in the area to plant a header towards goal, but his effort is blocked. Spurs quickly come back forward, though, and Alli then finds himself one on one with Bailly, but his eventual effort lacks the power to trouble De Gea.
Lloris is not entirely convincing as he comes to claim a corner, with the ball only dropping as far as Herrera. The midfielder opts to take a touch rather than go for goal first time, but his second touch is dreadful as he slices an attempted cross straight over the bar.
Good defending from Smalling this time as he makes an important challenge to stop Sissoko from racing through. Both defences have been very sturdy so far today, which isn't making for a great spectacle in truth.
Aurier momentarily finds space inside the area, beating the offside trap before cutting back onto his left foot. That allows the defence the chance to get back, though, and the subsequent effort is deflected behind.
SAVE! De Gea has been the busier of the two keepers today, but he hasn't really been tested yet. This one is another comfortable stop as he plucks Dier's hooked volley out of the air.
Herrera is the latest to get a talking-to from Jonathan Moss for an untidy challenge, the type of which there have been a few already this afternoon.
Just the one added minute at the end of this first half.
HALF TIME: Manchester United 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
The first half comes to an end at Old Trafford, then, and not a moment too soon. It has not been a great game by any stretch of the imagination so far, with clear chances few and far between for both sides.
United started the match quite brightly, but Spurs soon began to see more of the ball and take control of the game. The defences were very much on top throughout that first half, though.
David de Gea has been the busier of the two goalkeepers in that first half, although he hasn't had a difficult one to make so far.
Perhaps the closest we have come to a goal came when Dier hooked an acrobatic effort towards goal after a corner had dropped to the midfielder. Again it was a simple one for De Gea, though, as he easily plucked it out of the air.
De Gea has also been called into routine saves to deny Alli and Sissoko, while Alderweireld and Aurier have failed to test the keeper with speculative efforts from range.
At the other end, Lloris has only had one save to make so far, tipping Rashford's dipping long-range free kick wide of the target. It was arguably the most taxing save of the half, but still one Lloris would have expected to make.
Tottenham will be the happier of the two teams with this scoreline as things stand, but they will still fancy their chances of coming away from this one with all three points.
There was very little to separate the teams in that opening 45 minutes, but if you had to give the edge to either side it would be the visitors.
KICKOFF: Manchester United get us back underway for the second half. More action please!
I alluded to the questions over Lukaku's record against the big teams during the build-up for this match, and so far he hasn't shown enough today. The service to him has not been great, it must be said, but he has not stood out here.
Jonathan Moss has been lenient today, letting a lot of things go when other referees may have blown. The ref is having a decent game, and it is the players who are preventing the game from getting into much of a rhythm rather than the officials.
Young tears down the left flank before drilling a low ball into the box which is just too far in front of Rashford, allowing Lloris to collect.
Vertonghen strides forward from defence to carry Spurs up towards the edge of the box. The ball eventually ends up at the feet of Eriksen, but he curls a cross straight out for a goal kick.
SAVE! Huge relief for Lloris, who is bailed out by Davies! Mkhitaryan twists and turns his way into shooting space before curling a low one towards goal which should be simple for Lloris to gather. He spills it into a dangerous area, though, and Davies does really well to follow in and clear his lines with Rashford lurking. That would have been a tap-in!
CLOSE! Seconds later another ball arrives from the left flank, and this time it takes a deflection to beat Lloris and - fortunately for Tottenham - Lukaku too. United are ramping up the pressure now.
Lukaku come down the left flank again and this time the cross does find Lukaku, but his volley was well blocked before a clearance hits Valencia and goes behind for a goal kick.
United offered more in that two-minute spell then they have done for the rest of the match combined going forward, and Spurs will need to weather this storm now. Mourinho's side have just started to step things up.
Tottenham have stemmed the United momentum quickly and have ensured that they have not been put under a prolonged spell of position.
TOTTENHAM SUBS: Double change from Tottenham as Fernando Llorente and Mousa Dembele replace Son and Sissoko.
Good goalkeeping from Lloris as he races off his line to mop up a through-ball which Lukaku was trying to get on the end of.
CLOSE! United finally beat the first man with a corner and the ball drops to Valencia, who unleashes a thunderbolt from the edge of the area when coming onto the ball. Lloris would have no chance if it was on target, but it is always rises and flies narrowly over the bar.
MAN UTD SUB: The hosts make their first change of the afternoon as Mkhitaryan is replaced by Jesse Lingard.
Good passing move from Tottenham, but it ends with Aurier putting too much on his attempted through-ball for Eriksen inside the box.
Dembele is furious with Herrera here after the United midfielder goes to ground. Not sure why that prompted such an angry response, but Dembele was angry about something.
MAN UTD SUB: The hosts make another change as Rashford is replaced by
Anthony Martial.
Martial tries his luck with a bicycle kick from inside the area, but he doesn't connect properly.
CHANCE! United finally create a real chance of their own making as Lukaku bursts down the left channel before firing a powerful drive across the face of goal which Lloris does really well to flick away with a strong one-handed save.
YELLOW CARD! Valencia wants a penalty after going down under Dembele's challenge inside the area, but instead he gets a yellow card for simulation.
SHOT! Dembele plays a square ball to Eriksen in space outside the area, but the Dane blazes his effort well over. He is capable of doing a lot better than that.
CHANCE! Eriksen this time down come up with the quality we know he possesses, clipping a beauty of a ball into the box. Alli darts to get on the end of it, but he doesn't get enough contact on the ball to turn it home from close range. That is a real chance for Tottenham - their best of the afternoon.
OFF THE POST! Suddenly it is end-to-end stuff here! Lukaku holds off his marker inside the area to plant a firm header towards the bottom corner, but it comes back off the post. That was a really good header from the Belgian, but narrowly off target.
Tottenham have the ball in the back of the net... but only after the whistle has gone for offside. Aurier was the man offside after being found by Winks.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Tottenham (Anthony Martial)
The deadlock is finally broken! Anthony Martial comes off the bench to give United the lead with less than 10 minutes remaining!
It is poor defending from Spurs, who are undone by some route one football. De Gea's long ball forward is flicked on by Lukaku, and suddenly Martial finds himself clean through on goal. The finish is a little scruffy, but it bobbles past Lloris and Old Trafford erupts.
Spurs must now do something no other visiting team has done in the Premier League this season and score at Old Trafford. That goal will be a difficult one to take for Pochettino, and there isn't a lot of time to undo the damage.
young goes down on the touchline and screams out in alleged pain in the meantime, just to make sure that the referee is aware. I suspect he is not particularly hurt, though.
As things stand, then, United will be two points adrift of Man City, whereas Spurs could end the weekend eight points off the leaders. United are on course for another win and clean sheet here at Old Trafford.
CHANCE! United have the chance to put this game to bed once and for all as Lingard is left all on his own up front, with no Spurs player around him. He races into the green grass ahead of him, but is always looking behind at the chasing Eriksen and blazes a poor effort well off target.
There will be three minutes of added time at the end of this match.
MAN UTD SUB: A third and final change for the hosts as Young is replaced by Matteo Darmian.
FULL TIME: Manchester United 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Jonathan Moss brings an end to proceedings at Old Trafford, then, and it is Manchester United who run out narrow 1-0 winners in this top-of-the-table clash.
It took a while for this game to really burst into life, but after an end-to-end period Anthony Martial got the only goal of the game with just nine minutes remaining. The gap to leaders Man City is now just two points, although the leaders do have a game in hand, which comes against West Brom in a 3pm kickoff.
Right, that is all we have time for this afternoon!
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for today's early kickoff as Martial comes off the bench to fire United past Tottenham at Old Trafford. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction. We also have coverage of the 3pm kickoffs which is already underway, so be sure to check that out.
From me, though, it is goodbye for now!
