10 touches, 1 goal – Rúben Amorim’s biggest Manchester United dilemma vs Tottenham has an easy fix

Rúben Amorim has a dilemma as Manchester United travel to North London face Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday evening fixture in the Premier League.

Manchester United are preparing to return to Premier League action with an away fixture against Tottenham Hotspur in the coming days.

The two sides have already met in North London this season, with Spurs edging a dramatic 4-3 contest to knock Rúben Amorim’s side out of the Carabao Cup.

Both clubs have struggled to find consistency this season, sitting 13th and 14th in the table, with United holding a two-point lead over their opponents.

The stakes are high for both teams—Amorim will be eager to build momentum with his squad, while Postecoglou faces mounting pressure from Spurs fans, who are calling for a change in the dugout.

Amorim has a big dilemma against Tottenham

Amorim has taken charge of 20 fixtures as United head coach, with the club having won ten of these, drawing two and losing eight.

While the inconsistent form as been a dagger to any momentum under the 40-year-old, a root cause of this has been the lack of goals scored. The team have scored just 30 times since he took charge, conceding 32 goals in the process, leaving him with an overall goal difference of minus two.

Amorim’s biggest dilemma against Tottenham, and the issue that has plagued him all season, is who to start as the striker.

While Rasmus Højlund scored five goals in his opening five fixtures under the Portuguese coach, he has not scored in the 14 appearances since, while Joshua Zirkzee netted for the first time in 12 games when he scored against Leicester.

The coach even tried dropping both centre-forwards and using Kobbie Mainoo as a false nine against Crystal Palace, although this experiment failed and his side crumbled to a 2-0 loss.

Zirkzee is the answer to his immediate issue

Despite the barren run of just one goal in 12 appearances, Zirkzee is the clear solution to who should start against Postecoglou’s team.

Read More: A new Rúben Amorim tactic hands Manchester United trio the perfect chance to impress vs Tottenham

The last time United played against Spurs, it was Zirkzee who scored the first of their three goals, and despite only having one in the 12 fixtures after that, the Dutchman showed with his 10 touches at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium that he can be influential when needed.

There has been a trend of late that although Zirkzee has played well off the bench, he has failed to impress when starting, but he has only been gifted six starts during the 20 fixtures under Amorim, and deserves consistent game time.

It’s not as if Højlund has proven himself to be any more of a worthwhile starting option over Zirkzee in the last two and a half months, and with the 23-year-old starting to gain confidence at Old Trafford (despite what statistics may suggest), he should be handed a start on Sunday.

Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is released every Wednesday at 6 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.