Former Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur striker Teddy Sheringham has dismissed the idea that the Reds could benefit from a tense atmosphere at Spurs’ home ground, following the London club’s recent defeat to Chelsea. After a 1-0 loss to their city rivals, Spurs fans expressed their dissatisfaction with Thomas Frank and his team’s performance.
However, Tottenham bounced back on Tuesday night with a convincing 4-0 victory over FC Copenhagen in the Champions League. Despite this, Sheringham, speaking to Oddspedia, believes that any notion of the Reds capitalising on a potentially nervous atmosphere in north London is misguided.
Instead, he anticipates a united front when United visit this weekend. “I was at the Spurs game last night and I was interested to see what the reaction of the supporters would be like after the Chelsea game,” Sheringham said.
“They were up for it again and Tottenham ended up putting in a good display. It wasn’t fantastic – they probably ended up playing better with 10 men than they did with 11 – but I don’t think the United game is the type of game for Spurs fans to not appreciate what’s going on.
“Everyone loves it when Manchester United come to town and everyone raises their game, so I don’t think it’s this type of fixture that will be a problem for Thomas Frank. I think Tottenham will be up for it and so will their supporters – so it will be a fantastic game.
“It’s the other games that Tottenham are expected to win when they’re playing against the likes of Brentford at home where it starts to become a bit sticky.” With loyalties split between both clubs, Sheringham is anticipating an entertaining, hard-fought encounter.
“I was going to say there’s goals in it, but Manchester United’s defence has tightened up a bit recently and Tottenham look solid at the back with Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero,” he concluded. “I’ll go for a 1-1 draw.”
Both teams enter the clash level on 17 points and – should either emerge victorious – they would climb to second place in the Premier League table, albeit potentially for just a matter of hours.