Manchester United host Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday, in what could be a crucial game for both team's top-four aspirations.
Following their 4-1 defeat to local rivals Manchester City last weekend, results elsewhere saw United drop out of the top four, falling one point behind Arsenal. The Gunners beat Watford 3-2 as they leapfrogged the Reds for the first time this season, with the Gunners having two games in hand on Ralf Rangnick's side.
Spurs can potentially relegate United down to seventh in the league table with a win at Old Trafford, but a win for the Reds could put the pressure back on Arsenal. Their last meeting at Old Trafford saw Spurs beat United 6-1, with Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son both scoring twice.
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Rangnick revealed ahead of this game that both Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani returned to training this week after missing the Manchester derby through injury, handing a big boost to his selection against Spurs. Raphael Varane is also expected to return after missing United's last outing through Covid-19.
So, what line-ups will both teams select? And, what could the final score be?
To find out, we used FIFA 22 to get a score prediction for Manchester United vs Spurs on Saturday. This is what happened...
*Note: the sim was carried out before the MEN learned Dean Henderson would be starting*
Man United vs Spurs score predicted by simulation
We used kick-off mode in FIFA 22, but didn't select a team to control, we then selected the teams and watched the match play out by itself, to give us a score prediction.
We predict that United could set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Telles; McTominay, Pogba; Sancho, Fernandes, Elanga; Ronaldo.
We predict that Antonio Conte's side could set up in a 3-4-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Lloris; Romero, Dier, Davies; Doherty, Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Reguilon; Kulusevski, Kane, Son.
United looked the more likely team to score in the opening half an hour, with a handful of promising attacks seeing Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho both come close. United eventually took one of their chances, taking the lead five minutes before the break, with youngster Anthony Elanga finding the net once again.
After peeling off the back of Matt Doherty outside the box, Elanga was found with a fantastic through ball from Paul Pogba. The Swedish winger took on his defender before firing a fantastic effort across goal and into the top corner to make it 1-0.
United didn't go into half-time ahead though, with Spurs equalising less than a minute after the resulting kick-off. Spurs pushed into the final third with Dejan Kulusevski and Doherty linking up well down the right, and the latter found Rodrigo Bentancur deep into the box.
Bentancur's smart footwork close to the byline saw him skip past Telles and find Kane just inside the box, with the striker looking set to shoot from close range. Kane opted against shooting himself though, and after some naive defending from Telles which saw the Brazilian leave Bentancur unmarked, Kane played the ball back to the midfielder who rifled past David De Gea at his near post.
After an eventful end to the first half, the second 45 minutes produced quite the opposite. United failed to register a shot in the second half as they struggled to open up space in the final third, whilst Spurs only managed one.
Marcus Rashford was introduced in the 68th minute as United looked to add some danger to their attack, but the winger was given a straight red card six minutes later for a late challenge on Kane. Rashford recklessly charged through the back of Kane with his studs showing, leaving the ref with no option but to produce a red card.
FIFA 22 predicted final score: Man United 1-1 Tottenham
Here are the full-time match stats.
FIFA 22 predicts that a thrilling first-half with two goals just before half-time could be cancelled out by a dull second half on Saturday, with this simulation suggesting that United could be dominant in the first half, before tailing off in the second half. Overall, FIFA 22 reckons that this game will be a score draw on Saturday.
What do you think the final score will be? Let us know in the comments!
FIFA 22 is available now on all platforms, including PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PlayStation 4 (PS4), Xbox One, PC and Stadia.
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