A four-game winning streak in the Premier League, six in all competitions, and the doom and gloom lifted from the confines of Old Trafford, Manchester United will look for another three points when do-not-know-what-to-expect Tottenham pay a visit on New Year's Day.
Where to Watch Live
The game is scheduled for an 11 pm IST start with live coverage on Star Sports 4 and Star Sports HD1. The match can also be live streamed online HERE. Viewers in the UK click HERE, HERE or HERE, while US viewers can catch the action via live streaming HERE. To watch the match in Australia go HERE. Viewers in the Middle East and North Africa can watch the match HERE, while the rest of Africa can live stream the action HERE.
"I'm just looking at the present [moment in time]. The team is now playing better, we have that winning mentality and United spirit which was missing at the start of the season," United left-back Patrice Evra said.
"I can see that our hunger has come back, so I'm confident, but I don't want to talk about the title. I just want to talk about the next game, Tottenham at home [on Wednesday]. We need to make sure that we win, and that we keep the momentum going."
Eight points separates United, who beat Norwich 1-0 on Saturday, from leaders Arsenal at the moment; that gap of course could be extended with all the title contenders playing earlier, but David Moyes will know if his side continue picking up points consistently then that gap is bound to shorten sooner or later.
Moyes has little doubts about the reason behind United's winning run, with the reigning Premier League champions conceding just three goals in their last six games, while keeping four clean sheets.
"If you look at us over the last month or so, we have actually been quite solid defensively and it was good to see them [the defenders] do it again [against Norwich]," Moyes said. "I thought they defended brilliantly well in the first half and they got some great blocks in when it looked as though we were in trouble, so they did really well.
"We have to keep moving on and believing that we are going to catch the teams above us, we have to believe that we are going to go out and win the games. We look more likely to score goals and it looks as if we are creating more. The players are getting the bit between their teeth again and I think they are generally doing much better."
For Spurs, with new manager Tim Sherwood, it is about continuing to find their identity, with the two-striker formation so far yielding reasonable good results. Tottenham eased past Stoke 3-0 on Sunday, and Sherwood and co. will no doubt be keen to repeat that performance at Old Trafford last season when Andre Villas-Boas' side won 3-2 in an entertaining encounter.
Team news: Manchester United: Wayne Rooney is expected to be fit after missing the Norwich game, while strike partner Robin Van Persie, who has not played since 10 December, could also make a comeback.Phil Jones, Nani and Rafael remain ruled out.
"I would expect Rooney to probably be back on Wednesday. Ideally, we'd like to have a bit longer than three or four days between each game, but we're not getting much time at this time of the season," Moyes said.
"Robin has started some light training, and he might not be too far away either. We haven't often had them as a strike partnership, so I look forward to getting them back together."
Tottenham:Jan Vertonghen, Andros Townsend and Younes Kaboul remain sidelined, while Kyle Walker returns from suspension.
Key men: Manchester United:Difficult to look beyond Wayne Rooney, who inspired that United comeback from two goals down against Hull. Danny Welbeck has also been potent in front of goal of late, and could be a handful for the Spurs defenders.
Tottenham: Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado need to work in tandem and score more goals from open play.
Expected lineups: Manchester United: De Gea; Smalling, Evans, Vidic, Evra; Carrick, Cleverley; Januzaj, Rooney, Young; Welbeck.
Tottenham: Lloris; Walker, Dawson, Chiriches, Rose; Lennon, Paulinho, Dembele, Eriksen; Adebayor, Soldado.
