Manchester United head into their Premier League showdown with Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford looking to avoid extending their winless streak in the top flight to three matches.
As for Spurs, Mauricio Pochettino's team make the trip to the North-West aiming to move clear of United in the standings and reduce the gap on leaders Manchester City to two points.
Manchester United
© SilverHubAfter witnessing his side lose out to Huddersfield Town last weekend, manager Jose Mourinho was quick to criticise the attitude of his players as the club slipped five points adrift of leaders Manchester City, and it leaves United in a position where they dare not drop more points in the top flight at this stage of the season.
United got what they played for at Liverpool - a goalless draw - but the setback at the John Smith's Stadium has left Mourinho and his players likely having to find a way of claiming a minimum of four points from games against Spurs and Chelsea just to stay in contention with City.
Their poor form comes at a time when the goals have started to dry up for Romelu Lukaku - who has gone 297 minutes without finding the back of the net - and when chief creator Henrikh Mkhitaryan has not set up a goal since the end of August.
They are two statistics which cannot be prolonged, and Mourinho has been left largely reliant on the contributions of Marcus Rashford, who has played a part in five of United's last eight goals in all competitions.
That said, it has been almost a month since United played at Old Trafford, and the North-West giants have won each of their last seven games at their famous home, dating all the way back to May 11.
United are making headway in the cup competitions, but defeat to Spurs may leave United eight points off the pace come 5pm on Saturday and even at the end of October, that might prove too much to overhaul.
Recent form: DWWWDL
Recent form (all competitions): WWDWLW
Tottenham Hotspur
© SilverHubAt half time against West Ham United on Wednesday night, everything was going swimmingly for Spurs ahead of their trip to the Theatre of Dreams, but now Pochettino must now deal with his side letting slip a two-goal lead to a team bereft of confidence.
Pochettino may point to the fact that the EFL Cup was the lowest of their priorities this season, but that result will sting the Argentine and he now must find a way of helping his players recover for one of the biggest games of their campaign at less than 72 hours' notice.
The setback was in stark contrast to the ruthlessness which Spurs showed in their 4-1 demolition against Liverpool last weekend. Harry Kane chipped in with two more goals, but the performance of Son Heung-min showed Pochettino the kind of quality he had been keeping in reserve during most of the first two months of the season.
Son will probably be the player to miss out on Saturday lunchtime - despite also providing two assists against West Ham - but the South Korean attacker has shown Pochettino that he has not necessarily got to rely on Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Kane.
Neither player has been at their best this season - Eriksen has not provided an assist since September 13 and Alli is only just starting to show a glimmer of his form from last season - but nevertheless, Spurs have kept on churning out results with an unbeaten run of 11 matches having been put together until the defeat on Wednesday evening.
It has also been nearly six months since Spurs lost on the road - a run stretching eight matches - and with United looking almost untouchable in front of their own supporters, something will have to give this weekend.
Recent form: WDWWWW
Recent form (all competitions): WWWDWL
Team News
© SilverHubDefender Phil Jones could return to the United starting lineup after recovering from the knock sustained against Huddersfield.
Eric Bailly has also returned to training ahead of a possible appearance, as has Paul Pogba who has not featured since the middle of September but the midfielder will not be considered for the weekend.
Kane remains a doubt for Spurs after sustaining what appears to be a hamstring niggle during the latter stages of the victory over Liverpool.
Danny Rose is likely to return to the bench after making a return on Wednesday night, while Erik Lamela is unlikely to be considered for a return after a year out in a match against a direct rival.
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Valencia, Jones, Smalling, Young; Matic, Herrera, Mkhitaryan, Mata, Rashford; Lukaku
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Sanchez, Alderweireld, Vertonghen; Trippier, Dier, Winks, Davies; Eriksen, Alli; Kane
Head To Head
Saturday's match will represent the 187th time in which these two teams have faced each other in a competitive contest, with United winning 88 times in comparison to 50 victories for Spurs.
The last five meetings have been won by the home team, and the record over the last 10 games remains even with Spurs prevailing on four occasions and United emerging victorious three times.
Spurs last won at Old Trafford on New Year's Day in 2014, when goals from Emmanuel Adebayor and Eriksen secured a 2-1 triumph.
We say: Manchester United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
United have been far from impressive in recent games, but Mourinho knows the importance of getting a result on Saturday. It may not be pretty at times - much like the last couple of weeks - but we are backing the home side to run out narrow winners, perhaps thanks to a late goal from one of the club's flair players.
