Conte's pre-match bluff
Following Richarlison's calf injury last time out against Everton, all Tottenham fans were expecting Antonio Conte to switch to a 3-5-2 formation, given how well they performed in the second half of Saturday's win. However, he made it clear numerous times in Monday's pre-match press conference that he would be persisting with his 3-4-3 system.
That wasn't the case, though, as he was clearly bluffing. Erik ten Hag and his Manchester United backroom team probably expected Spurs to tinker with their setup, given the fact Conte mentioned 3-4-3 too many times when speaking to the press.
The change meant that Yves Bissouma got the nod in the middle of the park after a bright showing against Everton, with Ivan Perisic continuing at left wing-back as Ryan Sessegnon started on the bench once again. Looking good in the formation only a few days ago, it was a different story altogether in Manchester.
READ MORE: Tottenham player ratings: Hugo Lloris superb but Romero, Bissouma, Hojbjerg, Kane and Son poor
Conte's embrace with Eriksen
There was to be no start for Christian Eriksen against his former club after missing out at the weekend through illness. Fit enough to be included in Ten Hag's squad, the Dane was named on the Manchester United bench alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.
Walking out at The Theatre of Dreams seconds after the teams had emerged from the tunnel, Eriksen shared a touching moment with Conte. Knowing each other from their time together at Inter Milan, the Tottenham boss put his arm over the midfielder's shoulder, and the pair chatted for a brief period of time as they walked down the touchline together.
Magnificent Lloris let down
Hugo Lloris had quite the game at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening. The World Cup winner was extremely busy throughout in Manchester as he made save after save.
He was not convincing at all with his first save of the night as he got a touch to Antony's effort from distance. The saves he made after that were of the highest quality. Tipping attempts from Fred and Bruno Fernandes over the crossbar, he denied Marcus Rashford from close range after the attacker was played through on goal and had time and space in the area.
Lloris' best save from the first half came midway through the first half as he got a fingertip to Luke Shaw's rasping volley after the ball found him at the back post. As good as Lloris' saves were, the Lilywhites were their own worst enemy at times as they sloppily lost possession of the ball and kept playing into United's hands.
It, unfortunately, carried on in the second half, with United finally making the breakthrough from Fred's deflected effort seconds after the restart. Lloris, who was badly let down by his teammates, did manage to keep the score down as he again made some big saves to stop Rashford from turning such a bad night into a major embarrassment.
Conte fumes at Bentancur
Needing to get on the ball and try and slow things down to frustrate Manchester United, Tottenham just couldn't do that, and it meant they were under relentless pressure from the hosts. Conte will not have been happy with their performance at all, and he let his thoughts be known a few minutes before the break.
Rodrigo Bentancur was guilty of losing possession as the ball ended up with Antony on the right wing, and his boss duly let fly at him. The Uruguayan needed to have his say, though, and quickly fired back at the 53-year-old and continued to make his feelings clear until play resumed.
Big players not performing
Heading to Old Trafford on the back of three successive wins, Spurs looked far from a team in good form. Manchester United dominated proceedings at Old Trafford and really should have won by more, given the openings they had throughout the contest, with Lloris the reason for Tottenham only conceding the two.
Struggling away from home at their rivals in the past after not performing well at Chelsea and Arsenal, it was more of the same from the visitors as they barely laid a glove on Ten Hag's men. Too many of Conte's big players didn't perform, and it resulted in a United onslaught.
Cristian Romero and Eric Dier were incredibly shaky at the back and lost possession numerous times, with the midfield three also sloppy on the ball and guilty of playing wild passes. Up front, Son Heung-min and Harry Kane saw very little of the ball, but they did nothing of note when they had control of it.
With so many of Tottenham's top players way off their best, it was no surprise to see the Red Devils rip them apart time and time again. There needs to be a huge improvement come Sunday afternoon when Newcastle visit the capital.
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