Spurs to face Fergie backlash

Manchester United's match against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday promises to be a fascinating head-to-head between two managers under pressure after unexpectedly bad starts to the season. In the clash of Sir Alex Ferguson and Martin Jol, though, there can only be one winner.

Jol has had a week to forget; seven days which, despite a 4-0 win over Derby County last weekend, have brought his odds on becoming the next manager to collect his P45 cascade from 8/1 to 2/1 following poisonous paper talk.

Although the Dutchman has finally been given the dreaded vote of confidence from the Tottenham board the pressure is now on his side to continue producing results.  The difference between playing Derby at home and United at Old Trafford, though, is meteoric, especially with United having got off to an even worse start to their London rivals.

Without a win in three matches and stung by the defeat against Manchester City Ferguson now finds himself in an uncomfortable position that will, for the first time in nearly 20 years, become precarious if his side falls short again. In truth United have been unlucky. They have not played badly in any of their matches and their poor start largely due to the loss of Wayne Rooney to injury and Cristiano Ronaldo to suspension.

In their absence the responsibility for goals has fallen on new boy Carlos Tevez, who is still some way short of match fitness. Indeed it could be argued that if ever there was a time to oppose United it would be now, with morale delicately-poised, key players out and Spurs under pressure to win points.

However, United continue to create chances and with a struggling Tottenham side minus key defenders Ledley King, Michael Dawson and Younes Kaboul a United backlash can be expected.

With the visitors unable to rely upon their shaky back four, both sides are likely to go for it and United like nothing better than an open match. Don't be surprised if we see a high scoring game with Darren Bent scoring for Spurs and United's Nani getting off the mark.

Verdict: 2pts Manchester United to bt Tottenham @ 1/2 (SportingBet); 0.5pt Bent to score at anytime @ 3/1 (General); 0.5pt Nani to score at anytime@ 11/4 (general); 2pts over 2.5 goals @ 9/10 (SportingBet)