Manchester United told to watch out for two unlikely Tottenham stars in Premier League clash

Manchester United face up against Tottenham Hotspur in North London as Erik ten Hag’s side look to win their first two Premier League fixtures of the campaign.

The Reds were 1-0 victors against Wolves on Monday but have a tougher task against Ange Postecoglou’s side.

It was an underwhelming performance at Old Trafford that saw a fortunate United take all three points and an improved display is necessary against The Lilywhites.

Read More: Latest team news ahead of Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur

Former United defender Paul Parker has suggested that Spurs will be able to pull out surprises this season under new manager Postecoglou.

“Tottenham can get better. Tottenham can surprise people,” Parker told mybettingsites. “It’s the strength of the manager. People are digging him out on certain things. I’ve seen quotes from normal people – ‘he doesn’t know the Premier League’ – that rubbish. He knows football.

“He’s learned the hard way by working with amateur players. All the players he worked with had ambitions to be better and play at bigger places than where they were. He did that at Celtic as well, bringing in Japanese, Korean and Portuguese players. Hungry players.”

Parker, who spent five years at Old Trafford, highlighted two Spurs players who his former side will need to keep a close eye on.

“Bissouma is the one United need to focus one because he’s a good athlete. He’s going to work hard with or without the ball,” he added.

“Richarlison is another one. He’ll get the regular football he wants and he’ll only get better and better. He’s a centre forward who if he’s having a bad time, then the opposing centre halves have a bad time as well. Like Mark Hughes, he moans and gets into their heads and defenders lose their way and he wins something from it.”

The encounter kicks off at 17:30 BST on Saturday afternoon, and Ten Hag will be keen to start with a win away from home against one of the better teams in the league.

United’s record on the road last term against the top sides was their weakest general area. The Dutch boss believes that his team’s personality is key to improving in this aspect.

“This is one of the aims we have for this season, that we have to step up in away games to get more points. So, it’s often to do with personality,” he said.

“So yeah, that’s the demand from me on the players, and that we have to show more personality on the pitch to win such games.”