Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United Preview

Tottenham and Manchester United will look to build on their big Premier League wins at the weekend when they meet in the last eight of the Carabao Cup on Thursday.

After a return of zero wins in five consecutive games in all competitions (D3, L2), Tottenham secured an empathetic 5-0 win over Southampton at the weekend with all of the goals coming before half-time.

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglu declared earlier this season that he often wins things in his second campaign at every club. The Carabao Cup, which, incidentally, is the last trophy Tottenham won, is one of the low-hanging fruits the Australian will be targeting as he attempts to make his promise real.

Postecoglou won the Scottish equivalent of this trophy in both of his seasons in charge at Celtic and they look primed to reach the next round having already eliminated Manchester City on their way to this quarter-final.

However, repeating the act against United will require them to end a four-match winless run on home turf (D2, L2) – they last endured a longer such streak coincidentally back in 2008.

Meanwhile, Manchester United come into this game on the back of two consecutive comeback wins in the Premier League and Europa League, the most recent of which was their 2-1 win over Manchester City at the weekend.

Like his opposite number, United boss Ruben Amorim is also tasked with restoring Old Trafford’s glory days. He has set about restoring standards at the club, with Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho both rested in the Manchester Derby at the weekend.

Clearly unafraid to make big calls, Amorim will now be looking to follow in the footsteps of two of his predecessors, as both Jose Mourinho and Erik ten Hag won this trophy in their first season at Old Trafford. However, the omens are not with him, as United have failed to win any of the last four meetings with Tottenham (D2, L2), and they’ve not strung together three successive victories across all competitions yet in 2024/25.