How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will bring you all the build-up from 13:30 GMT.
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Sport → follow → GMT
Manchester United and Tottenham are accustomed to battling it out at the top end of the Premier League, albeit for UEFA Champions League rankings as opposed the domestic crown in recent years for the former in particular.
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United → battle → former
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Mourinho → lash → Mbappe
Manchester City charges leave Liverpool angry for Premier League clash
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charges → leave → clash
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Recent seasons have seen both slide to dramatic lows by their standards and a concerned Old Trafford welcomes a Spurs side, whose immediate concerns are far greater than those of the hosts.
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concerns → relegate → hosts
Roberto De Zerbi’s struggling North Londoners are bottom of the table with only two points to their name after five games.
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Londoners → struggle → games
United’s have one only once in that time and a Spurs win will see the sides level on points.
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sides → have → points
Al Jazeera Sport takes a closer look at a match that, although early in the season, could well shape the months ahead for both sides and the immediate futures of their managers in a game that has been labelled: “El Sackicko”.
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that → take → game
Carrick casts an eye across Manchester to eye City’s woes
United head coach Michael Carrick has plenty of problems of his own, but has called for a swift resolution to Manchester City’s financial charges case, saying the long-running process had raised many questions and affected him personally.
Last month, an independent commission found City guilty of all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules over nine seasons, between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 campaigns, as well as three of four charges concerning their failure to cooperate with the investigation.
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City → cast → investigation
City, who currently top the Premier league table as the only side with a perfect record after five matches, have denied wrongdoing and lodged an appeal.
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who → top → appeal
Carrick spent 12 years at United from 2006 to 2018, winning five Premier League titles and the Champions League among numerous honours, before taking charge in January following Ruben Amorim’s departure.
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Carrick → spend → departure
During his playing career, the 45-year-old former midfielder lost out in two title races won by City, including the 2011-12 campaign when United fell short on goal difference after Sergio Aguero’s dramatic title-clinching goal on the final day.
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United → play → day
“It’s thrown up a lot of questions.
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It → throw → questions
As it’s still ongoing, and we don’t know how long it’s going to go,” Carrick told a press conference when asked about the City charges.
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Carrick → ’ → charges
“It’s affected me personally in different ways over a period of time.”
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It → affect → time
Would medals make up for lost titles for Man United?
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medals → make → United
Asked if he wants the titles United missed out on, Carrick said he would reserve judgement until the process was complete.
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process → ask → judgement
“I think regardless of anything, a medal anyway, in any sport in history, I think later on you get the medal and it’s proven at different times,” the Englishman added.
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Englishman → think → times
“It’s the moment that you strive for to win and achieve in that moment, so the medal here or there, not getting blase about it, but that doesn’t bring the feeling of when you initially win or you don’t win.
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you → ’ → feeling
That’s essentially what we’re all in it for.”
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we → ’ → it
De Zerbi calls on struggling Spurs to react in Man Utd clash
Roberto De Zerbi has urged bottom-of-the-table Tottenham to “react” to the pressure of their crunch clash with fellow strugglers United.
Spurs have been waiting for the chance to erase the bitter taste of a 3-2 home defeat against Aston Villa in their last match before the international break.
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Spurs → call → break
And, with scrutiny mounting on the Italian, the Spurs manager demanded his players rise to the challenge against United.
“I’ve been waiting for this game from three weeks.
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I → mount → weeks
After the defeat at home against Villa, personally I wanted to play the day after,” he told reporters on Friday.
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he → want → Friday
We have to react, to work in this moment.”
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We → have → moment
Misfiring Tottenham must improve their aim
Tottenham failed to score in their first four league games before finally finding the net twice against Villa.
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Tottenham → improve → Villa
De Zerbi conceded his team have to improve in attack if they are climb out of the bottom three.
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they → concede → bottom
“We created chances to score many other goals in these seven games but we didn’t.
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we → create → games
We are working to improve in the last third, the assists and the finishing,” he said.
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he → work → third
“We are fourth in the table for the team who brings the ball into the opponents’ area the most times.
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who → bring → area
“It is nothing but it shows we can arrive in the area.
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we → show → area
We are not good enough to score goals so far when we have clear chances.”
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we → score → chances
Can Carrick or De Zerbi survive ‘El Sackicko’?
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Carrick → survive → Sackicko
With Carrick also under pressure following their poor start, Tottenham’s trip to Manchester has been dubbed ‘El Sackicko’.
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trip → follow → Manchester
De Zerbi saved Tottenham from relegation after arriving late last season, but that final-day survival feat is unlikely to save him from the axe if results don’t improve soon.
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results → save → axe
United and Tottenham are still big clubs in the Premier League,” he said.
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he → say → League
“We have to deserve to work in this club, playing better and making different results.”
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We → have → results
What happened the last time Man United played Tottenham
The sides last met in February in a Premier League encounter at Old Trafford with the home side winning 2-0.
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side → happen → Trafford
Cristian Romero was shown red on the half-hour mark for Spurs before Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes netted the United goals.
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Mbeumo → show → goals
When did Tottenham last beat Manchester United?
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Tottenham → beat → United
Spurs famously beat United 1-0 in the UEFA Europa League final in May 2025, thanks to Brennan Johnson’s first-half strike.
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Spurs → beat → strike
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
