After Chelsea already won the Premier League title on Friday by defeating West Brom 1-0, Tottenham have nothing to play for when they welcome Manchester United to the final game at White Hart Lane before they move to their new stadium. Tottenham have been the only club who managed to challenge Chelsea for the title this season but that ended after their 1-0 loss to West Ham.
Tottenham will be playing for pride and will certainly want to win their final game at White Hart Lane and considering its Manchester United they are up against, a win here will definitely make things better for Mauricio Pochettino and his players.
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Surprisingly Tottenham have won only one of their last 15 matches against Manchester United, drawing six and losing eight, with their only win coming last season. However, Spurs will definitely be the favourites ahead of this fixture with Jose Mourinho and his players focusing on the Europa League finals later this month.
Despite the Europa League a priority for Mourinho, that does not mean his players will not give their 100 percent today. Also Manchester United have a chance to hand Tottenham their first home defeat this season and if they fail to do so Tottenham could go unbeaten at home for the first time in a league season since the 1964/65 season.
Speaking ahead of this match, Pochettino believed that his players deserved a lot of credit for being the only team to put up a title challenge against Chelsea given the greater financial muscle of their Premier League rivals.
"Sure the season so far was good and it's true when you don't win you feel disappointed because that is our ambition. But when we start the season, to be honest we don't analyse the budget and the investment of the other clubs but when you finish the season you must put it all in the same place to analyse and to say if it was good or if you feel disappointed for the season," ESPN quoted Pochettino as saying.
"Of course, that is difficult because we are in a completely different project to our opponents, the clubs that play for the same things as us. Maybe we are a little bit at a disadvantage. But the good thing is that we are very focused in trying to develop different things, to try to be in the same level as them without investing the same money as them."
Mourinho is expected to field a weaker side as he is expected to rest a number of players ahead of their Europa League final against Ajax. He stressed that he is not branding this match against Tottenham as not important but feels the Europa League just slightly more important as they will be able to play in the Champions League next year if they win.
"I have to give some minutes to everyone because we have only 15 players, we don't have more, so I have to play them. But I have to play them mixed. I have to play them by periods and I don't have another solution," Mourinho said.
"We can win a trophy and by winning that trophy we can play Champions League next season, so that's the game. We are not going to say that matches are not important matches. They are important. But we have one that is more important than others. But the match on Sunday is important for us, too."
Manchester United will be without Paul Pogba following the death of his father. Apart from him the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ashley Young, Marcos Rojo, Luke Shaw and Timothy Fosu-Mensah are all injured. Marouane Fellaini will also miss out as he continues to serve his domestic ban.
As for Tottenham, Pochettino has no new serious injury or suspensions to worry about. Left-back Danny Rose has returned to full training but this match will be too early for him.
Where to watch
The Premier League match between Tottenham and Manchester United is set to start at 4:30pm local time, 9:00pm IST and 11:30am EST.
TV and live streaming information
India: TV: Star Sports Select HD1. Live streaming: Hotstar
UK: TV:Sky Sports 1/HD. Live streaming:Sky Go
USA: TV: NBCSN, Telemundo. Live streaming:NBC Sports Live
Africa: TV: SuperSport 3. Live streaming: SuperSport live
Middle East: TV: beIN Sports Arabia. Live streaming: beIN Sports connect
