Spurs’ Top-four Finish Quest Faces United Test

Spurs’ Top-four Finish Quest Faces United Test

After failing to secure maximum points against Newcastle last weekend, Jose Mourinho’s hope of booking a Premier League top-four finish faces another big test as Tottenham Hotspur welcome Manchester United in what is no doubt the week 32 headline fixtures. The Lilly Whites humiliated the Red Devils 6-1 in the first leg and Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side would therefore be craving for revenge and will be spurred by their 2-0 away win to Granada in the Europa League

Tottenham will be hoping that their 6-1 thrashing of Man Utd at Old Trafford back in October can inspire them to a similar performance at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in what is a big game for Jose Mourinho’s side in their quest to finish in the top four.

After conceding late, they went on to draw 2-2 away at Newcastle last Sunday, those two points dropped have prevented Spurs from leapfrogging Chelsea into fifth-place in the Premier League table and they cannot afford any more room for error against second-placed Man Utd. Whilst the Red Devils will be stretched physically, having been in Europa League action against Granada just three days previous to this encounter, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men are a forced to be reckoned with away from home. United have not lost in their last two successive Premier League matches on their travels, an incredibly impressive feat and their pace on the counter attack through the likes of Marcus Rashford may prove fruitful for them here when combined with the precision of midfielder Bruno Fernandes.
Meanwhile, Manchester City will be looking to continue their charge towards the Premier League title when they welcome Leeds United to the Etihad Stadium today afternoon.

The Citizens are currently top of the table, 14 points ahead of second-placed Manchester United, while Leeds occupy 11th position, level on points with 10th-placed Arsenal on the same number of games.
Only an incredible turn of events will prevent Man City from winning this season’s Premier League title, with 14 points currently separating the leaders from second-placed Man United.

The Citizens have won their last three in England’s top flight since suffering a 2-0 loss to Man United on March 7, including a 2-0 victory over Leicester City at the King Power Stadium last weekend.
Pep Guardiola’s side are chasing the quadruple this season, and they recorded a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday evening, leaving the tie delicately poised ahead of the return fixture on April 14.
Man City will face Tottenham Hotspur in the final of the EFL Cup at the end of the month, meanwhile, and will take on Chelsea in the semi-finals of the FA Cup on April 14, meaning that Guardiola will need to rotate his squad in the coming weeks due to the volume of matches.

The Citizens have comfortably the best home record in the Premier League this season, picking up 38 points from their 16 matches, but Leeds have recorded seven away league victories this term, which is the same as Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Liverpool and Chelsea.
Leeds, meanwhile, will enter the contest off the back of successive Premier League victories over Fulham and Sheffield United, which has moved them into 11th position in the table.

The Whites have won 13, drawn three and lost 14 of their 30 league matches this term to collect 42 points, level with 10th-placed Arsenal and just two points behind ninth-placed Aston Villa.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side lost four of their five league games between February 14 and March 8, but it has been a strong few weeks for the promoted club, who have drawn with Chelsea, in addition to beating Fulham and Sheffield United, in their last three fixtures.

The Whites have won seven times on their travels in the Premier League this season, which is an impressive record considering their position in the table, while they held Man City to a 1-1 draw when the two teams locked horns at Elland Road back in October.
Meanwhile, redemption, revenge and a return to form at home will be on the agenda for Liverpool when they welcome Aston Villa to Anfield today.

The champions were on the end of a 7-2 humiliation in the reverse fixture at Villa Park in October – one of nine defeats they have suffered this season to leave them playing catch-up in the top-four race.
A huge amount has transpired since these two last faced off in the league more than six months ago, but Liverpool will no doubt feel as though they have some unfinished business after finding themselves on the wrong end of one of the most remarkable Premier League scorelines of all time.

The champions had made a strong start to their title defence heading into that fateful day at Villa Park, boasting a 100% record of three wins from three, including dominant back-to-back victories over Chelsea and Arsenal.
In hindsight, what followed was the first real glimpse of what would become a torrid attempt to retain the title this season, and even before their defence had been ravaged by injury, they found themselves ripped apart by Villa.

Jurgen Klopp usually insists that each game is a new game and that past meetings would have no bearing on future showdowns between certain sides, but even he might be tempted to tap into the bruised egos Liverpool suffered in October ahead of Saturday’s match.
Huddersfield Town were the last team to lose seven top-flight home games in a row on their way to relegation in February 2019, and Liverpool’s tally of six this season is already their most in a campaign since 1953-54, when they finished bottom of the table.

Just as concerning as their losing run will be their lack of goals on home turf, having netted just once in those six defeats and, excluding penalties and own goals, failed to score with any of their last 115 shots at Anfield.
It has been more than a month now since their last Premier League game at home, though, and Klopp will be hopeful that such a gap is enough to break whatever bizarre hoodoo has befallen his side since the turn of the year.
The highest any team has ever finished in the top flight having lost six or more consecutive home games in a season is ninth – a dubious feat achieved by Sunderland in 1946-47 – making the prospect of securing a top-four finish all the more unlikely should that run continue.
A good weekend last weekend means that Champions League football next season is still very much within reach, though, and due to the schedule of games this weekend Liverpool would actually climb into the top four temporarily at least with a win over Aston Villa.

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