This week we have the Europa League Final where two English sides come head to head in Bilbao at the San Mames. Both sides have not been producing the results in the Premiership and with just one game remaining Man United sit 16th with 39 points and Tottenham 17th with 38 points which is well below standards.
Ange Postecoglou’s side have collected just a point from their last six fixtures in the top flight of English football which was away to London rivals West Ham (1-1). The defeats came away at Wolves (4-2), at home to Nottingham Forest (1-2), away against Liverpool (5-1), at home to Crystal Palace (0-2) and then more recently away to Aston Villa (2-0). Many pundits felt if it wasn’t for the good runs in the cup competitions Daniel Levy would have looked for a replacement manager. The North London side reached the EFL Cup Semi-Final where they lost to Liverpool 4-1 on aggregate and then in the FA Cup they reached the Fourth Round where they lost away at Aston Villa 2-1.
Spurs’s Europa League journey looked to be in trouble after a first leg draw at home to German side Frankfurt in the Quarter Final (1-1), it meant they needed to get a victory in the return leg to progress to the last four. Dominic Solanke stepped up to score from the spot just before half time and although the homesided pressed they couldn’t equalise to take it to extra time. The next opponent was Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt who had won the previous two Eliteserien titles, the first leg was at the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium where an early breakthrough in just one minute helped the English side to go on and eventually win the game 3-1. They went to Norway for the return leg with a nice cushion and after a well controlled first half Spurs took the lead thanks to Dominic Solanke in the 63rd minute and then the lead was doubled six minutes later thanks to right back Pedro Porro.
Their opponents Man United have also only collected one point from their last six Premiership fixtures and that was a draw away at Bournemouth (1-1). The defeats were away at Newcastle (4-1), at home against Wolves (0-1), away at Brentford (4-3), at home to West Ham (0-2) and away at Chelsea (1-0). Man United’s damage has been self-inflicted, they decided to stick with Erik ten Hag after the FA Cup final victory over Manchester City and give him money to spend. They made two big money purchases in Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee and then sacked him after just nine games of the season.
The board refused to wait till the following summer to appoint Ruben Amorim and he had to leave Sporting mid season. Now the safety net is Bilbao and then hit the ground running next season, which would justify the rush to appoint him in a hurry. This has been the worst season for United since the 1973-74 relegation campaign and they announced financial losses of £113.2m last September.
Back to the performances on the pitch and the Quarter-Final tie against Lyon, the first leg in France ended 2-2 with the homeside scoring in the 95th minute. It was all to play for back at Old Trafford, but a great start for the homeside taking the lead after just ten minutes when Manuel Ugarte netted. That lead was doubled just before half time thanks to Diego Dalot. It looked to be all under control for United but with twenty minutes left of the ninety the visitors got a goal back, this uneased the Red Devils and six minutes later the comeback was completed and it was all level so extra time was needed. Ruben Amorim tried to regroup his players for the next stage of the contest but it was the French side that hit the ground running scoring just before the break to take a 2-3 lead. That lead was extended in the 109th minute when ex Arsenal striker Lacazette netted.
Now United looked to be heading out of the competition after being fully in control, a foul on Casemiro in the box gave Bruno Fernandez the chance to get a goal back for his side in the 114th minute for which he slotted in calmly. The ground got behind their side with five minutes to play and in the 120th minute Mainoo was assisted by Casemiro to bring it back to 4-4, it looked likely to go to penalties but with the final kick of the game Harry Maguire was assisted by that man Casemiro again to take the homeside through winning 5-4 AET.
The Semi-Final was much more plain sailing for Man United and after a first leg victory away at Athletic Bilbao (0-3) they won convincingly at Old Trafford (4-1).
We can expect a close game of football here with both sides pushing to get into the Champions League next season but in this season’s head to head it’s Spurs who have the upper hand. They won at Old Trafford in September (0-3), then won at their ground in the EFL Cup Quarter-Final (4-3) and then back there in the league in February (1-0). Kick off 20.00pm Wednesday Live on TNT Sports 1.
Best Odds For This Fixture:
USA Casinos For UK Players: Tottenham 23/10, Man United 5/4 and the Draw 23/10.
Non UKGC Casinos: Tottenham 9/4, Man United 13/10 and the Draw 9/4.
We wish you the best of luck with your predictions.
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