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Tottenham not beaten United home for 13 seasons!

Despite the team from London tying three wins and moving up to spot seven in the table, their performances were in no way brilliant, meaning they could go with a more cautious tactics today against Manchester

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Loads of luck, two posts, great saves by the goal keeper and unbelievable misses by Leicester players saw Tottenham record their third consecutive win with the same final score (2-1). If each of those three games ended differently, no one would have been surprised. But, the London-based club is now in spot seven ahead of the meeting with United, who are 5 points up after winning 7 out of the last eight (undefeated) games. 

It will be a great test that will prove just how good this unconvincing Tottenham is. Only three of their players (midfielder Eriksen, forward Kane and brilliant goal keeper Lloris) are pulling their weight this season, everyone else seems to be lost, just their manager Pochettino, who keeps on reshuffling the team, trying to come up with some new solutions. He has all the players at his disposal now, which is great news given the extremely busy schedule the English teams are on during the holidays.

Bad news is, Tottenham have been unable to defeat United home for 13 consecutive seasons. They recorded 8 defeats in those 13 seasons and a total of only 5 wins in their 44 Premier League clashes against Manchester United that stretch throughout 22 seasons (lost 29 out of the 44 games).

- We can be happy with three points only from the Leicester game, any kind of lack of focus is punished easily. Leicester failed to punish us for it, but United are a much better opponent - Pochettino said, confirming his team got very lucky last round. The manager will out Mason back in the lineup to strengthen the midfield and try and win the midfield batter against the constantly improving opponents from Manchester.

- We need to be brave from the kick off, we need to fight in every attempt and every one-on-one clash, but we also need to be smart what with United's fine form - manager Pochettino said. He clearly plans to use a more cautious tactical plan to patiently wait for chances on the pitch.

Manchester United beat Newcastle quite easily on Friday, with Wayne Rooney doing great in his new midfield role. Yet another experiment by Louis van Gaal bore fruit and captain Rooney, having scored two goals, compared his role to the one club's legend Scholes had after coming from midfield so many times to finish the attacks. 

- It's the role I can play and the manager allowed me to move forward from that position into the box. As Scholes did it so many times over his carrier, he could see the ball when it was wide and see the space and run into it - I did that today with my two goals. It's nice to win, nice to score goals, and I'm delighted with the performance - Rooney said. He scored 9 goals in his 13 outings against Tottenham. Manchester United are definitely in high spirits and optimistic about their trip to White Hart Lane even though they won't be complete. 

Fellaini and Januzaj are sick, Blind and Rojo injured, while Di Maria got injured during the practice session on Thrsday and will most likely miss this game.

- Both FIFA and UEFA forbid playing within 48 hours but that's okay in England. I can't prepare my team for the game the way I would like to. We unit meetings, team meetings, training 11 against 11, which is not possible to do now. Still, I'm happy with the way my team did against Newcastle. Rooney has capacity to run 90 minutes and that is why I use him as a midfielder. It's best for the team at the moment that he plays as a midfielder - van Gaal said. He has it just like all other managers and team at the moment with the busy fixture schedule. 

- The away game with Tottenham is not easy, but we'll prepare as best as we can I we're optimistic and bursting with confidence. We are showing clear signs of progress the last few weeks. We were disappointed after a draw with Aston Villa, but the last win made us all happy and in high spirits ahead of Tottenham and Stoke. We are still chasing City and Chelsea, we're clearly making progress and we're interested in third spot only - midfielder Carrick said. We'll have to wait and see how his team will do against the tough and dense Pochettino's lineup.