Two under-pressure managers face off on Saturday night, as Manchester United welcome bottom-of-the-table Tottenham Hotspur to Old Trafford.
Michael Carrick’s United pinched what could prove to be a precious point away at Fulham just before the international break, thanks to a last-gasp Matheus Cunha strike.
That relieved the heat ever so slightly on Carrick ahead of a long period with no game to focus on. As for Tottenham the summer splurge on transfers was supposed to ensure they were a far more competitive team this time around, after surviving relegation by the skin of their teeth last term.
But the reality has been a wretched opening to the season, with just two goalless draws the only positives to come out of a five-game winless start. They at least scored their first goals of the campaign last time out, albeit in a 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa.
For both of these clubs, a return of one win combined in ten league games is unacceptable.
Carrick, judging by his demeanour in the pre-match press conference, certainly doesn’t seem to be feeling any extra pressure heading into this game against a club he spent two years at in his playing days.
Insisting that it was “just another game”, the 45-year-old refused to acknowledge that the outcome of Saturday’s clash had wider context going forward.
“Just because of the points, I understand the question” he said. “But we’re not going into it expecting anything less than their best version of what we know they’re capable of.
“Points-wise, Spurs have played a lot better than that at times. When you look at the games, they are a very good team with good players. They have assembled a squad this summer that is different to what they had. They haven’t had the results they maybe deserve.”
De Zerbi was asked during his pre-match conference about how tough it has been seeing Spurs prop up the table especially considering the international break was longer than it has ever been.
He responded: “It’s been difficult, very tough, especially the first week. It’s part of our real situation and we have to react and work.”
In terms of team news, United are without striker Benjamin Sesko and full-back Patrick Dorgu with uncertainty over the availability of Noussair Mazraoui. For Spurs, Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke are both able to feature despite picking up knocks on international duty for the Netherlands.
Dejan Kulusevski remains out but is making good progress for a long-term lay-off, with his manager saying: “He is working very well and I think he is an example for everyone – the example of how he reacted to the injury, the character he showed.”
