Tottenham v Manchester United: Spurs to recover from Magpies mauling

• Spurs aiming to bounce back after 6-1 loss at Newcastle

• Stellini out, Ryan Mason in (again)

• Fouls, BTTS and shots the key to Bet Builder at 3.75

Blame placed squarely at Levy's door

Considering Tottenham haven't won the league since 1961, and haven't lifted a European trophy since 1984, it cannot be regarded as a club that has an historical right to challenge for honours.

In the Daniel Levy era Tottenham have regularly qualified for the Champions League, reached the final of that competition and have built one of the best sporting arenas on the planet.

On that basis, painting Levy as some kind of football ignoramus or amateur is harsh.

However, by Levy's own admission, the Chairman has to carry the can for a series of disastrous decisions that led to Sunday's humiliation against Newcastle United.

You can trace the slide back to the decision to ditch Mauricio Pochettino and replace him with Jose Mourinho. Yes, Mourinho is an elite manager, but he was always going to have demands that Levy could not or would not satisfy, and the style of football jarred horribly with much of the club's swashbuckling history.

All managers lead to Mason (again)

The appointment of the tepid Nuno was an embarrassing mis-step for all involved, and while Antonio Conte rescued last season and finished above Arsenal in the race for the top four, the Italian's intense and demanding style ground down a group of players who seem to have steadily had all of the joy and freedom sucked out of them.

That's not to excuse those players - they have demonstrably underperformed, and all too often they have lacked the iron will and bravery required to win critically-important games.

Levy parted company with Conte after the manager launched into an explosive tirade following a collapse at Southampton, but then inexplicably asked his assistant Crisitian Stellini to take the reins.

How was there ever going to be an uplift? Why would Conte's long-time acolyte change the system or the style? It was more of the same dross, but without Conte's presence, drive or authority.

The inevitable nadir was that 6-1 hammering at Newcastle on Sunday, a game in which Spurs conceded five goals in the first quarter of the match.

Step forward Ryan Mason to try to rescue the season, with Spurs six points off the top four having played more games than both Newcastle United and Manchester United.

This is effectively a must-win match, and it remains to be seen which changes Mason will make. A reversion to a back three seems certain - Hugo Lloris and Clement Lenglet are injury doubts at time of writing, while Rodrigo Bentancur and Emerson Royal are out.

Ten Hag learns lessons from mixed week

In the cauldron of the Sanchez Pizjuan, Manchester United melted, and their Europa League hopes were destroyed by a Sevilla side who the Red Devils should have comfortably beaten across two matches.

Three days later, United had to dig incredibly deep against an excellent Brighton side to reach the FA Cup final by virtue of a nerve-jangling penalty shoot-out.

A bashed-up United look to be limping towards the finish line, but they have won a League Cup in Erik ten Hag's first season, they have the chance to win a second domestic trophy (cross-town rivals Manchester City will have something to say about that) and they are still on track to book a return to the Champions League.

Considering how the campaign began, United are in an acceptable place.

However, there is work to do to nail down a Champions League spot. A defeat in North London on Thursday would slice United's six-point lead over Spurs in half, and United have won just four of their last ten away games in the league, and in that sequence they were crushed 7-0 at Liverpool and lost 3-2 at Arsenal.

Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, Scott McTominay and Alejandro Garnacho are all out injured, while Bruno Fernandes is a doubt after picking up an ankle injury on Sunday. Christian Eriksen should be fit to face his former club.

Tottenham can heal some wounds

After Sunday's humiliation and the appointment of the popular Mason, I think we'll see a positive reaction from Spurs on Thursday.

It might not be enough to win the game, but I'll happily back them +0 & +0.5 on the Asian Handicap at 1.845/6.

If Spurs win, we win, and a draw gives us a half-win. Tottenham have won 14 of their last 20 PL games at home, while an injury-hit and tired United haven't been lighting things up on their travels.

Shots and fouls the key to Bet Builder

I've put together a Bet Builder worth 3.7511/4 on the Sportsbook. I'll go for BTTS, which has landed in seven of Tottenham's last ten PL games, including the last five.

Tottenham have scored in 17 of their last 20 top-flight home matches.

I'll do what I always do and back Antony to have 2+ shots (he averages 3.49 in the Premier League), and I'll go for Harry Kane to have a shot on target (the England skipper is averaging 1.41 SOT per 90 in the PL).

I'll back both Casemiro and Cristian Romero to commit at least one foul (they have committed 36 each in the league) and Over 6.5 Corners.