Tottenham vs. Manchester United: How Spurs Should Line Up in EPL Game

You want a Christmas miracle? One of the football variety occurred at the King Power Stadium on Boxing Day when Tottenham Hotspur somehow escaped with a 2-1 win over Leicester City.

Mauricio Pochettino's team are unlikely to be so blessed on Sunday if they are as sloppy and lackadaisical at home to Manchester United. The Red Devils comfortably beat Newcastle United 3-1 in their own post-Christmas Day fixture, their on-paper status as one of the top-flight's most talented attacking sides gradually being earned.

Tottenham's line-up for the upcoming Premier League clash will be somewhat informed by the performance against Leicester. But it should not neglect the bigger picture drawn in recent weeks either.

Poor as the north Londoners were for the last hour against the Foxes, their satisfaction with the three points (as expressed above) was not unwarranted.

Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen's goals—either side of Leonardo Ulloa's equaliser—made it three league wins in a row. Swansea City, Burnley and Leicester are not of the calibre of what is to follow (first-place Chelsea also visit White Hart Lane on New Year's Day).

But a win is a win, and those consecutive results have led Spurs to seventh in the table, just two points behind Southampton in fourth.

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A winning mentality is undoubtedly crucial to getting the better of a talented team like Man United. But Pochettino will also know his team need to get back to the sounder defensive work and tidier use of the ball from their better performances of late (notably against Burnley and Newcastle United in the Capital One Cup).

Hugo Lloris in goal is an obvious choice. With Ulloa and Riyad Mahrez hitting the woodwork, the Spurs skipper was lucky not to be beaten more than once by Leicester. He also made some typically smart saves, though, and will need to keep that up against one of the division's best attacks on Sunday.

With Juan Mata pulling the strings, Wayne Rooney bursting forward from deep and the lethal finishing ability of Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie, both sides playing like they did on Boxing Day would result in a comprehensive United victory.

Bleacher Report's Rob Dawson praised Falcao, but the observation that should worry Spurs was "the hope is that United have so many good forwards that they should be able to outscore anyone." To try and stop that coming to fruition, Spurs must be much more focused in defence than they were earlier this week.

Left-back Ben Davies was rested for Leicester. His replacement, Danny Rose, did not do enough to keep the Welshman out of the side for a further match, so Davies should be back. He will be required to hold his position and play whoever comes his way tighter than Rose did Mahrez.

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Spurs' other defenders, Federico Fazio, Jan Vertonghen and Kyle Walker should all start again, too, with Pochettino likely to aim for a continuation of the recent consistency in the position.

The centre-back pair endured a frantic afternoon as they were left far too often to deal with leaks elsewhere in their team. They were not always successful, as Ulloa's goal and the stops Lloris needed to make showed. Their efforts never dropped, however, and the commitment they showed must again be summoned to try and stop United's expensively assembled attack.

Walker had his worst game since his return from injury. He repeatedly ignored the runs of Ulloa, including for Leicester's goal, and would have been responsible, too, had Wes Morgan converted late in the game (Lloris's outstretched tip to the preceding cross was just enough to divert the ball off its intended target).

Dropping him is certainly not the remedy this weekend, but another lax, disinterested performance from the right-back will give his boss pause for thought.

In central midfield, Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason should be back together again from the start. The latter was unable to improve things for Spurs when he replaced the disappointing (and on his first league start, likely disappointed) Benjamin Stambouli at half-time.

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Pochettino evidently likes this Mason/Bentaleb partnership, though. Their youthful athleticism, energy and good (though not faultless) passing is probably the best bet to keep track of and perhaps bypass the recently deeper-deployed Rooney. They will need to be diligent or he could punish them like he did the unaware Newcastle midfield.

Dropping Eriksen back a little deeper to lend a hand while also giving the visitors something to think about also makes sense. Whether it be Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher or someone else anchoring Louis van Gaal's midfield, letting them pass freely is not advisable. Not with so many good options for them to combine with further forward.

Eriksen's own attacking influence is not necessarily diminished here, just redeployed to take into account what he will face. If he can get hold of it enough to provide for them, attacking midfielders Nacer Chadli, Erik Lamela and front man Kane showed their united qualities when in full flow early on against Leicester.

They cut the home side apart terrifically for the striker's first-minute opener. The Man United defence has got better over the campaign, but its changing make-up has still left it shaky at times. Spurs are capable of hurting them.

Pochettino rued his attack's failure to kill Leicester off early, though. As good as their play was, they lacked a cutting edge, and it allowed Nigel Pearson's men a route back into the game.

With the excellent David De Gea facing them down, it is likely to be even tougher for Tottenham to find the net.

Sunday is a big game for Manchester United's reawakened title aspirations. Should Tottenham avoid a loss against them, it would be a good indicator the ambitions of Pochettino's side would not be unfounded either.

Bleacher Report

Confirmation of Tottenham's proposed starting XI in full: Lloris (captain); Walker, Fazio, Vertonghen, Davies; Mason, Eriksen, Bentaleb; Chadli, Lamela; Kane.