Tactical analysis: Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United | OneFootball

Having grabbed a late winner against Leicester City to proceed to the fifth round of the FA Cup, Manchester United will look to improve their fortunes in the Premier League as well when they face Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon.

While the trip to North London can often prove to be a tricky one, it appears as if the hosts are one of the few elite sides that are actually struggling more than Man United this season.

In their last five Premier League outings, Spurs have come away with just a single victory, losing all four other matches. Their losses include a shock 2-1 loss at home to strugglers Leicester City as well as a 3-2 defeat to Everton, yet another team in the bottom half of the league table.

By conceding nine goals in their past five league games, it appears that Tottenham are leaking at the back and ripe for the plucking, should United get their act together.

When looking at Spurs’ recent performances in other competitions, it becomes clear that their defensive fortunes have been no better. While they defeated IF Elfsborg 3-0 in the UEFA Europa League, they have struggled when coming up against opposition who are actually of the same calibre or better, suffering a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool to crash out of the Carabao Cup.

Manager Ruben Amorim will be hoping that his side can take advantage of Spurs’ defence at a time when it appears to be particularly vulnerable, especially as a means of exacting revenge for the 3-0 drubbing at Old Trafford that took place earlier this season.

Still, in order to do this, Amorim will need to ensure that his side fix an issue that they appear unable to overcome.

While United have managed to be consistent goal scorers, they often place themselves under unnecessary pressure due to their wasteful finishing.

Take their FA Cup victory over Leicester, for example. With 13 attempts on goal, United got just four on target. In fact, their first accurate shot came in the 65th minute, when Alejandro Garnacho beat the keeper, only for Caleb Okoli to make a goal-saving interception,n which saw the ball reverberate off the crossbar.

It took a 93rd-minute header from Harry Maguire to secure the win for Amorim’s side.

United experienced the same issue during the previous match against Crystal Palace. Despite taking 17 shots, just two were on target, with the first accurate attempt coming in the 51st minute by Bruno Fernandes. Yet again, United were unable to register an accurate shot in the first half, suffering a 2-0 loss at home as a result.

Perhaps United’s most shambolic attacking display came in their 1-0 win over Fulham when a moment of magic by Lisandro Martinez saved the day. Taking just four shots on the day, Martinez’s 78th-minute strike was the only one that remained on target.

In the embarrassing 3-1 home loss to Brighton & Hove Albion the previous weekend, United were able to pull a goal back thanks to a Bruno Fernandes penalty, yet even with 10 shots on goal, that remained their only shot on target throughout the match.

It’s clear that no matter the final outcome, United appear to have developed a troubling trend in recent times that they just can’t seem to shake. Not only is their shooting accuracy way poorer than what it should be, but Amorim’s team takes an exceptionally long time to even register an accurate shot, which often only comes in the second half.

While they may be fortunate enough to get away with their wastefulness and tardiness against weaker opposition, Spurs will no doubt come out swinging, especially as they look to overcome their poor recent run of form.

Should United hope to get anything out of this match, they will need to not only improve their finishing but show their attacking threat earlier in the match. After all, not grabbing an early lead or falling behind from early on will only make it that much more difficult to secure victory.

Featured image Gareth Copley via Getty Images

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