Ben & Rob's preview - Manchester United

After our 5-0 win against Everton on Monday night, we're back on the road in the Premier League as a key clash at Old Trafford awaits on Saturday (5.30pm). N17 Live presenter Ben Haines and Club commentator Rob Daly give their views on what is always one of the highlights on the calendar.

High fives

Where else to start but that splendid win against Everton on Monday night?

Rob: "Everton was extremely impressive, and while it had been a while since the Wolves and Southampton defeats, you felt the team needed to put on a show at home in front of a packed crowd. The players picked out for praise have been spot on too. Firstly, Dejan Kulusevski was brilliant again. With two assists and some excellent link-up play, he proved again how quickly he’s settled in England. In terms of Harry Kane’s performance, you almost take the quality of his finishes for granted. Incredible. But my man of the match was Matt Doherty. It was his best appearance for the club. Well-timed tackles, industrious running, mazy runs, two superb assists for Kane and nearly scoring himself. It was a major claim to become first-choice right wing-back."

Ben: "Everton was just wild. I'm reaching that point now watching Spurs where I'm totally surrendered to the idea that anything and everything is possible, and to be honest when it comes to our league form, three wins out of four against Manchester City, Burnley, Leeds and Everton, with some of the football we've played, maybe we're starting to get towards that consistency Antonio Conte is after. I felt that if we got off to a good start against Everton we could have a strong evening but in our pre-match chat pitchside for N17, I don't think any of us would have been punchy enough to go for a 5-0 win (although one of our mascots went for 5-2!). I think Rob is spot on when it comes to big performances. Matt Doherty deserves so much credit, not just for his performance on Monday night, but for his persistence and resilience. He had his best performance in a Spurs shirt but that came off the back of a really tough night for our team against Middlesbrough. He said to us after the game that he felt free to get into advanced areas and in-field areas and I think so much of that is just down to confidence, feeling that comfort on the ball, and I have to say seeing the crowd's reaction and the way that everyone responded to Matt after the game was awesome."

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United front

Next up, Old Trafford, always a huge game - what do the chaps think about the Red Devils at the moment? What test awaits in Manchester?

Rob: "Conte has been clear since the Everton win. He’s explicitly said top four has to be the aim. Spurs face all their rivals for Champions League football between now and the end of the season. United were outplayed in the second half against City last weekend in the Manchester derby, but I felt their unusual system - having Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba so advanced through the middle, almost as strikers - worked well in the opening 45 minutes. The team just can’t seem to knock a run of wins together. Will Marcus Rashford come back in? Is Ronaldo fit to play? Can Spurs get close to the level of performance seen in the remarkable 6-1 at Old Trafford last season?"

Ben: "Obviously every game is huge now... and it's hardly a hot take to say with 12 games to go, there's no room for error at all. But with more time to prep in-between games at the moment, I think there's a huge opportunity here to really nail the consistency that the boss has been talking out. I think our team is starting to become settled and on top of that we've got a way of playing that's starting to be ironed in. The issue this weekend is that United will want to play in a very similar way, primarily because if they come and try to press Spurs they'll get the version of us that beat City, Leeds and Everton."

Theatre of dreams

What is your favourite Old Trafford memory?

Ben: "My favourite is a toss up between Gareth Bale burning away form Rio Ferdinand before scoring in 2012, Lucas Moura's magic in 2018 but realistically I have to go for that 6-1 win. The only kicker is that the fans weren't there to see it... maybe this time it'll be that same but with 70,000 there to see it!"

Rob: "The 6-1 win was, of course, special. Clint Dempsey’s 2012/13 winner as well... but I’ll go 2018/19 and the night Lucas Moura properly delivered as a Spurs player in a 3-0 win. Special."