TipResumen

PREDICTION

We have already seen matches involving the top six teams from last season facing one another, but this is the first time two of the four Champions League entrants will play one another in the new season. Tottenham Hotspur come into this fixture on Bank Holiday Monday in the better form having won back to back Premier League games to open the season. They will know the challenge is to step up when they face the top six clubs though as Tottenham Hotspur have won 1 of their last 10 away games at the current top teams in England of Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal. It could be said that Tottenham Hotspur couldn't pick a better time to visit Manchester United having lost 4 in a row at Old Trafford especially with the dark clouds that have gathered over this part of Salford. Those clouds could be broken by the rumoured plane that is going to be carrying an anti-Ed Woodward message on Monday evening as the fans have stuck behind manager Jose Mourinho. The battle lines look to have been drawn up between Woodward, Mourinho and Paul Pogba and there is a fear that it is all going to come crashing down and ruin Manchester United's season before it has really begun. The 3-2 defeat at Brighton was really disappointing in terms of the performance produced by Manchester United and the mistakes they made at the back were extremely costly. They can't afford to do that against Tottenham Hotspur but Manchester United have stepped up when they have faced the better teams in the Premier League and I do think we see a reaction here. Manchester United have only lost to Manchester City out of the top six clubs in each of the last two seasons at Old Trafford. Take out the current Champions and Manchester United have actually won 6 of 8 games against Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal at Old Trafford over the last couple of seasons and they also beat Spurs in the FA Cup Semi Final. That is a positive and the slightly longer time Mourinho will have had to work with his players should produce a positive and also see some key players return. I wouldn't be surprised if Nemanja Matic is fit to give the midfield better balance and the return of Jesse Lingard to the starting line up to replace Juan Mata should be a positive from the attacking point of view. Defensively United can't be as bad as they were at the Amex Stadium and the players do tend to produce better performances against the better teams. Last season they won 6 of 10 Premier League games against the top six clubs and I am not of the belief the players have downed tools on the manager. Last weekend Paul Pogba questioned his own attitude as well as that of his team-mates and I think that would have been worked on all week. With Tottenham Hotspur's relatively poor record against the top teams I do think Manchester United look a big price to win this one. However I will back them on the Asian Handicap which is essentially a 'Draw No Bet' selection and look for Manchester United to edge out Tottenham Hotspur again having beaten them 1- 0 in each of the last three seasons at Old Trafford in the Premier League.