Hopefully Man Utd win tonight to cut the deficit from 4th place

Spurs make only one change from their 5-0 victory over Swansea City last weekend in the Premier League as Toby Alderweireld replaces Eric Dier in defence.

Tottenham XI: Lloris ©, Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Wanyama, Dembele; Eriksen, Alli, Son; Kane.

Darmian will be RB
Rojo will be LB

Benfica coach Rui Vitoria has not ruled out Sweden defender Victor Lindelof joining Manchester United next month.

United manager Jose Mourinho is keen on the 22-year-old, who can play at centre-half or right-back.

A group from Benfica is reported to have travelled to England on Monday to discuss a potential transfer with the Premier League club.

United have not commented but Vitoria said: "If there are exits we will find solutions."

Reports suggest he would become the club's most expensive defender of all time, costing between £38m and £42m. Their record is England international Rio Ferdinand's £29.1m move to Old Trafford from Leeds in 2002.

Lindelof, who has 11 caps for Sweden, is expected to play in Benfica's Portuguese league game against Rio Ave on Wednesday, their last game for two weeks.

Mourinho, who spent more than £150m on players in the summer, is keen to make changes to his squad during the January transfer window.

Although the Portuguese has said he will not force anyone out, midfielders Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger are the most likely to depart, along with Memphis Depay.

France international Schneiderlin, 27, has attracted interest from Everton, as has Netherlands winger Depay, although Italian side Roma are another club keeping an eye on the 22-year-old.

Former Germany captain Schweinsteiger spoke to MLS outfit Chicago Fire, with other US clubs also keen on taking the World Cup winner, who has returned to first-team training after being frozen out by Mourinho at the start of the season.

Manchester United's "great traditions" have "gone", according to their former boss and current Sunderland manager David Moyes.

The Scot was sacked by United in 2014 - less than a season after being chosen to replace club legend Sir Alex Ferguson.

He said the club had "tended to pick British managers" and never felt the need to impose themselves in the transfer market.

"I can say that's gone," added Moyes.

"There have been a few changes at Manchester United but that's the way they have chosen to go."

United have spent £480m since Ferguson retired in 2013 after 26 years as manager.

They broke their club record in January 2014 by signing midfielder Juan Mata from Chelsea for £37.1m - a deal done under Moyes, and spent a British record £59.7m on Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria later that year, after Dutchman Louis van Gaal took over.

In August this year, they gave new boss Jose Mourinho a world record £89m to sign midfielder Paul Pogba from Juventus.

"They were a football club who enjoyed traditions with the way they spent," said Moyes, who returns to Old Trafford as a manager on Boxing Day, with relegation-threatened Sunderland, for the first time since he was sacked.

"They didn't try to compete with all the other clubs. They did what they thought was the right thing to do and spent the right way.

"Maybe that has had to change because of the current situation. [But] Sir Alex [Ferguson] went out and bought wisely and correctly in the transfer market and what he thought he needed to do."

Moyes repeated a claim that he was "definitely unfairly treated" by not being given enough time and also confirmed that the club missed out on a number of major transfers during his short tenure - including Real Madrid and Wales forward Gareth Bale, Madrid team-mate Toni Kroos and Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

"When I first went in my real target was Gareth Bale," said Moyes. "I felt all along that Gareth Bale was a Manchester United player.

"I fought right until the last minute. We actually offered a bigger deal than Real Madrid. But Gareth had his mind made up on going to Real Madrid. That was, in my mind, the player I really wanted to bring to Manchester United.

"The other one was Cesc Fabregas, who we thought we would get right up until the last minute.

"I remember when I first met Sir Alex and he always said there was a chance Ronaldo might come back.

"So that was the level we were targeting. I was not going out to bring in seven, eight players, because we had a squad which had just won the league.

"Toni Kroos was agreed to come in the summer. I had agreed it with Toni himself and his agent. Sometimes you don't get deals done. Gareth Bale, we were probably behind all along, Real Madrid were well in for it.

"The Cesc one was disappointing. It was very close. And Toni Kroos came up in January - it was done.

"A lot of players come into Manchester United and have not necessarily made the difference. But I think that, given time and having got to this period, I would have hoped I would be working with a successful team now."

19:10

David Moyes returns to the club that sacked him when Sunderland visit Manchester United this afternoon.

Current United manager Jose Mourinho has words of encouragement for the 53-year-old Scot.

"I think a manager that’s not sacked is not a manager, or at least is not a good manager," said Mourinho. "We have to be sacked.

"So I think it was just a bad moment in David’s career and he has to do what I did, what we all do - move on. And he did that."

Let the premiership fiesta began because next weekend no match day

Next week FA cup

vs reading

I guess bailly & smelling starts to counter negredo the beast who's on form.

swt......
statue starting line up?
why la mourinho!!!
cant u let me have a peaceful night enjoying man utd game?
zzzzzz....

AFRICA-BOUND BAILLY MISSES WEST HAM GAME

Eric Bailly will miss Monday’s game against West Ham United, and up to seven more Manchester United fixtures in the New Year, while he’s away on international duty with Ivory Coast.

The centre-back played the full 90 minutes of the Reds’ late 2-1 win over Middlesbrough on Saturday but will join his country’s Africa Cup of Nations preparations on Monday.

The news was confirmed by Jose Mourinho in his post-match press conference and, if Ivory Coast go all the way to the final in their defence of the tournament in Gabon, Bailly won’t be available for the Reds until mid-February.

However, the manager is happy with the other central defensive options he has at his disposal – Chris Smalling, Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones – and revealed both Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick have an outside chance of facing the Hammers, while also reserving praise for Marouane Fellaini’s performance against Boro.

“Bailly is leaving – he goes to the national team,” Mourinho said. “He has to be with them on 2 January. We asked them for him to be on 3 January but they refused, so he cannot play against West Ham.

“I know that I lose Bailly for a month and I'm going to have Smalling, Rojo and Jones for, I think, eight matches. So I decided to play Eric [against Middlesbrough] and it was good to have him on the pitch because, one-on-one at the back, he's the best because he's very fast.

“Rooney has a little chance and Michael has a bigger chance than Rooney. Let's see how he is tomorrow.

"I'm really happy with Fellaini and the way he played," continued the manager. "I'm really happy with his connection with the fans. I think they realised how useful he is and how much he is with the team.”

Both United and West Ham have only a 48-hour turnaround for the game at the London Stadium, with Slaven Bilic’s side having lost 1-0 at Leicester City on Saturday.

“It's difficult for us and difficult for West Ham,” Mourinho admitted. “We've both played at the same time, we've both had difficult matches and couldn't rest players.

“The intensity of the game was very high for them, for sure, against Leicester, and for us the same. And now we have 48 hours to play, so it's difficult for all of us.”

Jones + rojo tonight??cant wait..and pls no fellaini in starting line up..

we have fellaini for that