Tottenham Hotspur face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday night as the Lilywhites look to build on their best ever start to a Premier League season.
Antonio Conte's side have taken an impressive 23 points from a possible 30 in the Premier League so far, losing only once, to north London rivals and league leaders, Arsenal. Just a point on their travels will be enough to take them above Manchester City and into second.
Meanwhile, United, who linger down in fifth, have had an inconsistent start to the campaign. Whilst they've beaten the Gunners and the likes of Liverpool, they've also slipped up against teams they're expected to beat.
The most recent of those came against Newcastle United last weekend where they were held to a 0-0 draw, despite having several chances to win the game.
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Boss Erik ten Hag believes that is down to a number of factors, including not having forward options Cristiano Ronaldo and Anthony Martial consistently available to him.
Martial started in all five of United's pre-season friendlies but sustained a hamstring injury against Atletico Madrid in late July. He's since missed nine of the Red Devils' 13 fixtures through three separate lay-offs. Ronaldo did not travel on United's pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia due to a personal matter and played 45 minutes in their final friendly against Rayo Vallecano on July 31.
Martial has started only once and lasted 29 minutes at Everton, where he was replaced by the eventual matchwinner Ronaldo.
As cited by our colleagues at the MEN, when asked whether United could be better off than where they currently are in the table, the Dutchman replied: "I think that is a good question.
"There are obviously many problems and we had to integrate many players. We had to deal with problems offensively from the start: Cristiano Ronaldo was unavailable, Anthony Martial was not on the pitch and didn’t play a full game until now.
"I’m sure when that is better, with two No.9s present and fit in a good, combative shape, the results from the team will improve. I’m a person that is never satisfied. I am happy to be here but I’m not satisfied where we are but I also know that I’m impatient. I think good is not good enough, we have to do better.
"I see many things that can go better but I also see improvement so when we keep going with this progress we’ll improve more and I will be even happier."
Martial wasn't fit to play against Newcastle and looks a doubt to face Spurs again tonight. That means Conte's side will likely prepare for Ronaldo, who of course netted a hat-trick against them in the same fixture last season.
Nevertheless, not having both of them available is an advantage for Spurs as Ten Hag honestly admitted. Whether their lack of availability ends up impacting the game is another question entirely but at least there's less options from the bench for United to explore.
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