Analysis: Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur started the game in their 4-4-2 diamond structure, with Moussa Sissoko dropping out into a false full-back role on the right side. This enabled Kieran Trippier to push forward from right-back – his early cross showed Spurs’ potential threat from the wider areas – while Sissoko’s positioning also provided cover during transitions, where the visitors tried to unleash Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial in behind.

In attack, Son Heung-min partnered Harry Kane in his final appearance before departing for the Asian Cup. His movements in behind, coupled with Kane’s dropping towards the ball, gave the hosts brief penetrations along their left side. With Manchester United’s full-backs stepping on to Spurs’ full-backs, the visitors’ central defenders had to track Son’s runs away from the central lane, which created gaps for central runners from deep.

Spurs soon showed signs of beating United’s aggressively positioned front three. With the centre-backs splitting and both full-backs staying back, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli offered attacking height; this pulled Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera back in the central lane, leaving Jesse Lingard – who didn’t press as high as Rashford and Martial – unable to block off Winks and Sissoko, who had moved back into a central position.

United responded by dropping into a more defensive mid-block, and Tottenham’s build-up suffered another blow when Sissoko had to be replaced by Erik Lamela. The substitute became the point of the diamond, with Alli dropping into a deeper role on the left of the diamond. This saw Eriksen shift to the right, which in turn meant less effective defensive cover for Trippier at right-back. The latter was soon involved in the loss of possession from which Pogba played in Rashford for the game’s only goal.

Tottenham’s change to a 4-2-3-1 in the second half allowed Son, Alli and Lamela to support Kane around United’s central defence, while Eriksen linked midfield to attack from a deeper role alongside Winks. Trippier’s attacking threat was again evident, at least until Rashford was moved across to a left-sided role where he could help contain his England teammate – but while Spurs created a host of good chances, they found David de Gea in superb form between the United sticks. Alli, Kane and Toby Alderweireld were all denied by the Spanish number one as Tottenham failed to score at home for only the second time this season.

When Spurs lost possession, Manchester United would target the spaces to the sides of their central defence. Sissoko restricted Martial’s early attacking play on the opposition left, but with Eriksen not dropping into the false full-back role on the Tottenham left, Rashford in particular found joy with direct forward runs in between Jan Vertonghen and Ben Davies. Trippier’s aerial weakness was also targeted, as Pogba moved to the inside left channel to compete for long balls from the United back line.

As United dropped deeper, the Spurs back line pushed 10 or 20 yards higher – but this also left more space in behind, which Pogba and Rashford took advantage of when combining for the United goal just before half-time.

Tottenham’s change of attacking structure in the second half also saw them shift to a 4-4-1-1 defensive block in the second half, with two of the three attacking midfielders dropping back alongside Winks and Eriksen in a midfield four, and the other supporting Kane on the top line. Jesse Lingard’s roaming allowed the visitors to get Pogba into more advanced positions than he had managed in the first half, but the Frenchman was consistently thwarted by his international teammate Hugo Lloris. In the end, it was not the Tottenham defence that cost their team points, but an attack that simply couldn’t beat an inspired David de Gea.