Manchester United will face a tough test in their pursuit of a unprecedented 20th League title on Sunday as they visit White Hart Lane for a crunch clash against London club Tottenham Hotspur.
The reverse fixture back in August saw United win the match at Old Trafford quite comfortably by 3-0.
The defending Premier League champions will be boosted by the return of influential forward Wayne Rooney, who had to miss out England’s friendly match against Netherlands at Wembley due to a throat infection.
Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes would be expected to start at White Hart Lane after their key role in the victory over Norwich City last week. The experienced veterans scored goals on either side of Grant Holt’s equalizer to make sure the Canaries were defeated at home.
On the other side, Spurs will be short of confidence after their 5-2 defeat against Arsenal last week in the London derby, which came after Louis Saha and Emmanuel Adebayor had scored goals to put them in a 2-0 lead initially.
Manager Harry Redknapp, the man who will most probably lead England at the Euro 2012, will have to win this match to make a statement and to keep Spurs in contention for a top-four finish.
Spurs face injury problems with winger Gareth Bale missing out due to a hamstring injury. There are concerns about Rafeal van der Vaart’s fitness, who withdrew from the friendly against England earlier this week.
Martin Atkinson will be the match official for the game and a few dubious decisions should be expected as always, which will probably have an impact on the outcome of the game.
Probable Line-ups: Tottenham: Friedel, Assou-Ekotto, King/Dawson, Walker, Kaboul, Lennon, Modric, Kranjcar, Parker, Adebayor, Saha
Manchester United: De Gea, Rafael/Jones, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Nani, Carrick, Giggs, Scholes, Rooney, Welbeck/Hernandez