Tottenham vs. Manchester United: Predicted lineups, team news and Premier League score prediction

What is there left to say about the state of Tottenham Hotspur?

The North London club has continued to suffer over the last week — being knocked out of both the Carabao and FA Cups during the Premier League break. The former loss came after Spurs had established a 1-0 advantage over Liverpool in the first leg of the tie. But, frankly, Big Ange's side looked miles off the pace from the first whistle — seemingly content to simply contain, in contrast to their manager's usual style.

As soon as Liverpool's first goal went in, all 11 men in white were consigned to defeat. Only a few days later, they lined up against Aston Villa in the FA Cup, promptly conceding in the first minute and playing catchup for the ensuing 89. New signing Mathys Tel did grab a consolation goal for his team in the dying moments, but it will come as little comfort to the Tottenham faithful.

To the organization's credit, they are backing Ange Postecoglou to turn things around, though even he doesn't seem quite sure how to do that. Injury has plagued the Australian's squad, compelling him to play a much less experienced side with little rotation, ultimately only exacerbating fitness troubles. There is some introspection due from the Spurs manager and staff though, in regards to why the injury crisis has persisted. Similar questions were asked of Jurgen Klopp in certain periods of his tenure at Liverpool. While simple, bad luck certainly plays a big role — is there a certain training approach that contributes to the fatigue?

It may well be too late in the season to dramatically improve their league outcome, but with a significant amount of young talent both being injected into and developed necessarily within the team, the future of Spurs will depend on sorting out the essential question of fitness. In the short term, they've been presented with an opportunity to generate some positive momentum against a similarly shaky Manchester United.

Sunday's game is a battle for hope

Ruben Amorim also finds himself in a compromised managerial position, but it has less to do with injury. The Portuguese boss has found the project at United to be, perhaps, more challenging than he first imagined.

The only real consistent figure on the pitch for the Red Devils this season has been Amorim's countryman Bruno Fernandes. While United have unloaded Marcus Rashford and Antony — two players whose performances were not up to Amorim's not-unreasonable standards — they've not managed to bring in any transformative assets in the January transfer window. This is mostly due to financial constraints outside of the manager's immediate purview, but the solution to United's on-field predicament falls to him anyway.

How then, will Amorim approach the match against Tottenham on Sunday? New signing Joshua Zirkzee getting on the scoresheet in United's recent FA Cup victory over Leicester City is a good sign for the club's potential going forward, but they still relied on a would-be offside goal from Harry Maguire to beat the Foxes. With VAR on hand for Sunday's game, United will have to find an above-board moment of magic.

For a supporter of either club, the weekend's primetime fixture may not be a joyous occasion. But for the neutral, recent poor defensive displays from each side could augur a goal-fest worth tuning in for.

Tottenham vs. Manchester United news, predicted lineup and score

Tottenham's injury list is still quite long, but it's half-comprised of players who could return against United. That cohort includes James Maddison, Mickey van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Timo Werner, and Brennan Johnson. Forwards Richarlison and Dominic Solanke as well as defender Cristian Romero remain out for the near future.

In addition to the huge blow of Lisandro Martinez's season ending knee injury, Manchester United are without Luke Shaw until April. Mason Mount and Altay Bayindir are also sidelined, with no reported return date.

Tottenham predicted line up: Kinsky, Spence, Davies, Gray, Udogie, Bissouma, Bentancur, Kulusevski, Maddison, Son, Tel

Manchester United predicted line up: Onana, Yoro, Maguire, de Ligt, Dorgu, Ugarte, Fernandes, Dalot, Diallo, Zirkzee, Mainoo

Predicted Score: Tottenham 3-2 Manchester United

How to watch Tottenham vs. Manchester United

• Date: Sunday, Feb. 16
• Start Time: 11:30 a.m. EST
• Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium — London, England
• Watch: Peacock

Kickoff for the match is 11:30 a.m. ET, on Sunday, Feb. 16. The game will be streaming exclusively on Peacock.