Three Manchester United areas of weakness Tottenham must exploit

With Tottenham Hotspur travelling to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United on Monday night, there should be real optimism in the travelling support.

Spurs have won their first two games without getting out of third gear, while Jose Mourinho’s side look limited and short of confidence.

Despite Old Trafford not being a traditional happy hunting ground for Tottenham, United have a number of weaknesses that the visitors must exploit.

A weak central defence

Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof looked far from secure in United’s defeat to Brighton last time out and as such Tottenham will look to put the pair under pressure.

Harry Kane has broken his August goal drought and will be relishing the chance to take advantage of uncertainty in the home side’s rearguard.

Despite this, it may well be Dele Alli that can wreak the most havoc, with the Tottenham attacking midfielder’s runs from deep bamboozling plenty of defences stronger than United’s over the last 24 months.

Full-backs out of place

Looking at the United team on paper, their full-backs are clearly the weak link and they look out of place in a side compiled at considerable expense.

Tottenham are unlikely to play with wingers, but Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies should get plenty of opportunities to get into advanced positions and deliver quality.

The Spurs full-backs can be devastating attacking weapons and the potential for one-on-one situations up against, and in-behind, Ashley Young, Matteo Darmian and/or Luke Shaw will be something Pochettino has surely identified.

No midfield anchor

United look to have switched to a three-man midfield this season to accommodate Paul Pogba in his preferred position, but there is the lack of a tried-and-tested enforcer.

With Nemanja Matic short of fitness after returning from injury, Fred new to English football and Andres Pereira inexperienced, this is an area Tottenham can take advantage of.

Alli, Lucas Moura and Christian Eriksen will look to make use of the space between the home side’s defence and midfield, with devastating potential consequences if the Spurs stars are afforded time and space.