Gary Neville has warned Tottenham are firm favourites for next week’s Europa League final, insisting only one Manchester United player gets into the Tottenham starting XI.
The Premier League sides collide in Bilbao next Wednesday hoping to salvage silverware from what has been a desperately poor season for both clubs.
United and Tottenham currently occupy 16th and 17th place in the Premier League having fallen woefully short of pre-season expectations.
Both have found solace in Europe this season with United beating Real Sociedad, Lyon and Athletic Bilbao to reach the final with Tottenham getting past AZ Alkmaar, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bodo Glimt.
Spurs have beaten United three times this season – home and away in the league and in the Carabao Cup in December – with former captain Neville insisting Bruno Fernandes is the only player who would start for the north Londoners with everyone fully fit.
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‘I have got a sickly feeling about this game next Wednesday,’ Neville told The Overlap Fan Debate.
‘The biggest reason I have a sickly feeling about this game is when I look at every player in the team, [Dejan] Kulusevski, [Heung-min] Son, Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke, James Maddison if he was fit, [Yves] Bissouma and [Pape] Sarr, [Cristian] Romero and [Micky] van de Ven and [Pedro] Porro and [Destiny] Udogie.
‘When you look at those players like for like with United, only Bruno would get into the first XI of Spurs.
‘I would select every single Tottenham player. The goalkeeper is a 50-50 split because I’m not a big fan of Vicario and I am not a fan of Onana.
‘But I would choose every single player of Tottenham’s over Manchester United’s next Wednesday. That is my worry.’
United’s underperforming stars have stepped up in Europe this season with Casemiro forcing his way back into the team to play a key role in their journey to Bilbao.
But Neville is convinced that won’t be enough if Tottenham ‘play like they should’ next week.
‘United do have a couple of players, the likes of Casemiro and Bruno, they have something in them that will step up for a one-off game.
‘But if the players play like they should, Tottenham should win that game.’
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