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Tottenham can beat United. Tottenham can beat United. Tottenham can beat United. Tottenham can beat United.
Keep telling yourself that over and over until it is drilled into your head because sometimes it gets really difficult to believe. Tottenham Hotspur can beat Manchester United. It can happen. I promise it to you. It really is possible.
Just because it is possible does not mean it is easy. The Red Devils are getting healthy (long-term injuries aside) and Spurs will be facing their best team on Sunday. Wayne Rooney will be up top, likely with Danny Welbeck. Rio Ferdinand will be at the back and the Ashley Young appears to be finding his form again. Toss is the never-aging duo of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, who were two of United's best players last week, and the Red Devils are looking pretty good when you look at them individually.
When you look at United as a team, though, they're not looking so hot. They impressed absolutely no one in beating Norwich last week and they were awful in defeat at Old Trafford to Ajax. As much as it looks like things are getting better health-wise and with a couple players rounding into form, this is not a team playing well. Even so, they find themselves right in the thick of the title race. How United of them.
For Spurs, the question is whether they get back to their style of getting wide, testing fullbacks and creating havoc with their pace. Gareth Bale looks like a go on the left wing, but does Harry Redknapp turn to Niko Kranjcar or Aaron Lennon on the right? English football's dirty little secret is that Patrice Evra isn't that good anymore. I would love to see him run with Lennon for 90 minutes.
In the center, Tottenham have to figure out what to do in the absence of Scott Parker, who is out after picking up a red card against Arsenal. Sandro was downright dreadful last week in his 45 minutes and Jake Livermore has been good (he also has experience against United after playing at Old Trafford in August), but Sandro bounced back with a brilliant showing for Brazil. Odds are Sandro gets the nod, but having played twice in the last week already, it's doubtful he can play 90 minutes so expect Livermore late.
Exactly how Tottenham plans to deal with Rooney and Welbeck is a question, though. Ledley King looks likely to play, but he and Younes Kaboul couldn't deal with Robin van Persie (Rooney) and they are going to have to deal with Welbeck's pace too. This one could be a major problem. Scratch that. It is a major problem, but at least with King looking like a go and Kyle Walker looking likely to play too Spurs are at full strength to deal with a threat they are likely incapable of dealing with.
So Bale is (hopefully) in and Parker is out, but what about the man behind door number three? Rafael van der Vaart should be back in, which will be helpful because it gives Spurs another number in the midfield when they need it and United's midfield is always vulnerable. Then again, they still manage to win matches, those jerks.
Still, this one is at White Hart Lane and United have been poor for a couple weeks. Spurs are nearly fit. The Red Devils can't deal with Tottenham's pace. Feeling good?
Tottenham can beat United. Tottenham can beat United. Tottenham can beat United. Tottenham can beat United.