Saturday, 24th April 2010 – KO: 12:45
I must admit to developing a bit of a soft spot for Tottenham this season and if it were up to me, I would give both of these teams three points each at the end of this match, regardless of the result.
I don’t want to see City get that fourth place and I don’t want to see Liverpool get it. Given the choice between Villa and Spurs, I would go for Spurs quite simply because they play a better brand of football which deserves every success it gets.
Spurs have been the “nearly men” of football for as far back as I can remember and after going through a plethora of managers it must be a bitter sweet realisation for the Spurs fans that the answer was right under their noses in the form of Harry Redknapp.
The comparison between Spurs and United this season is perhaps significant because in the past there has always seemed to be one player in their team that us United fans have thought would be a good addition to our own team but this season there are several.
I think the likes of Gomes, Defoe, Lennon, Bale, Dawson, Modric and (yes, I’m going there), Crouch could all do a job at Manchester United right now.
Bale in particular is a very interesting prospect because I watched his goal against Chelsea last week and the speed and strength he showed to get to the ball ahead of the defender, the power he showed to cut inside, the skill he showed to create the space for the shot and the precision he displayed to power the ball into the bottom corner all reminded me of a certain Mr Ronaldo.
I don’t know who Fergie is going to play on our right side of defence but they had better eat their Weetabix or they could find themselves in for a torrid time against this young man on an upward curve.
All in all, after the mutual backscratching of last weekend, it does seem a shame that at least one of the teams in this game is probably going to see all their good work undone after this game.
History is very much on our side as Spurs have an extremely poor record at our place and I think the last time they actually won at Old Trafford in the League, Gary Lineker scored the winner.
It must also be said that whilst they have beaten Arsenal and Chelsea in successive games, both of those were at White Hart Lane where their record has been far better than away from home all season. In fact, if they could have picked up a few more points on their travels then they would have that fourth placed nailed down already.
Their last away game saw them lose 3-1 to Sunderland and a few before them saw them lose 1-0 to Wolves.
I really do think that Spurs might well come into this game with a fight but that we will eventually leave with the points.
Unfortunately, the bookies are giving very little away on the United win (odds are around 1.46 for the United win) which I find a bit ridiculous. They also think that this will be a high scoring game but remarkably, a lot of our games against Spurs at OT have not been the goal fests some would expect. Only two of the last seven have seen more than two goals being scored.
I do believe that both sides will be wary of the attacking threat of the other for this one. Had the game been taking place six months ago then perhaps both would be a little more adventurous but there is simply too much at stake for both teams and I can see a more cagey affair.
Having said that, both Redknapp and Fergie have always struck me as gambling types and they might just decide to throw their cards onto the table and see who comes up with the winning hand. At this stage of the season, you need to make your own luck and coming away as a gallant 1-0 loser counts for nothing, you might as well lose 3-2 but go down trying so I am wary of the goals market. What might start out as a cagey game could end up being a shoot-out.
I do believe that United will win this game but the score is anyone’s guess. For this one, I am going back into the corner market and my guess is that there will be a low corner count.
The bet is 2 points less than 12 corners @ 1.82 with Bet365.

| Result & Review |
Manchester United
|
3 – 1
|
Tottenham
|
|
Ryan Giggs, 58 (pen)
Nani, 81
Ryan Giggs, 86 (pen)
|
|
Ledley King, 70 |
As expected, this one did start off pretty cagey and there wasn’t even a shot by either team until around the half hour mark when a Tottenham player fell over whilst kicking the ball in the general direction of United’s goal which rolled tamely into Van Der Sar’s arms.
I must admit that I spent the best part of an hour trying to work out what the point of Ryan Giggs was as not for the first time in recent games, he didn’t exactly set the place alight but when the time came, he certainly showed the value of having that experience behind him.
A neat backheel by Berby into the path of Evra saw the hapless Assou-Ekotto bundle Evra over with all the subtlety of a brick and the ref had no choice but to point to the spot.
Up stepped Captain Giggs and slotted the penalty right into the side of the goal – Gomes appeared to get fingertips to it but such was the accuracy of the kick, it wasn’t enough. 1-0 to United.
Disappointingly, however, the lead wasn’t to last long as Ledley King used Michael Carrick’s back to get up for a corner kick which he headed in impressively (although Rafael, who was supposed to be marshalling the post strayed off the line – had he stayed where he was, he would have probably cleared it – this season seems to be one long lesson for the young Brazilian).
So, 1-1 with just twenty minutes to go and no Rooney (apparently, he has now picked up a groin strain in training) – where would the winner come from?
Cue Nani who has grown so much in the last few months that the shirt finally appears to fit very comfortably.
A neat build up which led to a perfectly weighted through ball from Macheda still left Nani with a fair bit to do but he dinked the ball over the advancing Gomes from a very tight angle with all the confidence of a player who appears to have shaken off any insecurities he may have had six months ago.
A few minutes later, Nani was again running through on goal but was bundled over from behind by Palacios and the ref had no alternative but to point to the spot again.
Once again, up stepped Giggs who opted for the other side this time but with no loss of accuracy as Gomes again went the right way but could not stop the perfectly placed spot-kick from hitting the back of the net.
So, after a nervy opening and an even nervier patch just after Spurs had drawn level, we finally had some daylight and were able to see it out fairly comfortably.
All was not lost for Spurs however as other results went their way and they go into their last few games with their fourth place still intact.