Europa League
2025-05-21 - Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: UEFA Europa League Final
Wednesday 21st May 2025 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV
Tottenham Hotspur
The club got their wish to have their Premier League game at Villa Park moved to Friday so Tottenham Hotspur could have enough time to prepare for the Europa League Final. Another loss was the outcome in what has been a miserable domestic season, but the whole feeling around the club may be a lot different on Thursday morning if Tottenham Hotspur have won in Bilbao.
Ange Postecoglou will be just pleased to get out of the latest Premier League game without seeing more of his key players picking up injuries. They may be 17th in the Premier League table, but Tottenham Hotspur have only lost 1 of their last 10 Europa League fixtures and have won 3 in a row to move into the Final.
Tottenham Hotspur have not won any of their last 6 Premier League games and they have been beaten in 5 of those, which has really put Ange Postecoglou under the pump as manager of the club. During that incredibly poor top flight run, Spurs have beaten Eintracht Frankfurt and Bodo/Glimt, twice, in European Football.
Losing James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski has left the manager with a predicament to solve. Timo Werner is another attacking option set to miss out.
Predicted Line Up: Vicario, Pedro Porro, Udogie, van de Ven, Romero, Bissouma, Sarr, Bentancur, Johnson, Son and Solanke
Manchester United
An interview with the co-owner of Manchester United, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, earlier this year underlined the importance of playing Champions League Football, but this team never threatened to get into the top five race. Instead it has been a really poor Premier League campaign and Manchester United have perhaps been fortunate that the bottom three have been as bad as they have been.
It means 16th placed Manchester United have long put all of their eggs in the Europa League basket and the team have been much stronger in this competition than they have been domestically. They have yet to taste defeat in the Europa League and Manchester United have gotten the better of the likes of Lyon and Athletic Bilbao in the last two Rounds, which should have given the team confidence.
Manchester United were beaten 1-0 at Stamford Bridge on Friday and that means they have failed to win all 8 Premier League games played since the March international break. The side have lost 6 of those matches, including the last 3 in a row, but Manchester United did win both Semi Final Legs against Athletic Bilbao, including in the Stadium in which the Final is set to be played.
Diogo Dalot, Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro are hoping to be passed fit when travelling to the Basque Country.
Predicted Line Up: Onana, Shaw, Maguire, Mazraoui, Dalot, Dorgu, Ugarte, Casemiro, Fernandes, Amad and Mount
Head to Head
Tottenham Hotspur might be 17th in the Premier League table, but they did the double over Manchester United with a 0-3 victory at Old Trafford followed by a 1-0 win at home in February.
Spurs have also beaten Manchester United 4-3 in the League Cup Quarter Final and they are unbeaten in 6 against this opponent.
Ange Postecoglou has been in charge of 5 of those matches and won 4.
Prediction
There have been plenty of people wanting to state that two struggling Premier League clubs should not have an opportunity to play in the Champions League next season.
16th vs 17th may be a relegation six pointer in years to come, but in the 2024/25 season, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are meeting in Bilbao in the Europa League Final.
Both have allowed Premier League form to drift, even if the managers have insisted they have picked teams good enough to win matches and voiced frustration at not doing so. However, it has been clear that Ruben Amorim and Ange Postecoglou have prioritised the Europa League and the players have seemingly had the same mentality towards fixtures.
On Premier League form, both Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United are undeserving of this spot, but they have been much stronger in the Europa League. Spurs showed character in beating Eintracht Frankfurt and Bodo/Glimt, while Manchester United displayed plenty of resolve having trailed Lyon 2-4 in Extra Time in the Quarter Final, but still winning 5-4 to progress.
You cannot ignore the fact that both teams will have to be better if they are going to win the Final and earn that Champions League spot.
Tottenham Hotspur may feel they have the mental edge having beaten Manchester United in all 3 matches played this season and in 4 of 5 under Ange Postecoglou. The injuries to James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski are major blows and leaves the Number 10 spot as a head-scratching decision for the manager to make though and Postecoglou will know that this is a key decision for him.
Players like Heung-Min Son, Brennan Johnson and Dominic Solanke can score goals, but stitching the attack together without Maddison or Kulusevski will be difficult.
Even then, this Manchester United defence is vulnerable and Tottenham Hotspur will feel they can exploit any uncertainty.
Ruben Amorim's team have continued to be poor in the Premier League, but playing in the Europa League has been an inspiration for many of the players. The best results this season have been in this competition and Manchester United could have some key players back in the line up to offer them a boost.
A feeling is that Amorim may choose to play with a false nine after Rasmus Hojlund's continued struggles to lead the line and that may give Spurs something to think about. Players like Amad and Alejandro Garnacho have pace and Bruno Fernandes will create chances, which makes Manchester United dangerous.
Picking a winner is tough, but you may have to give Manchester United the slight advantage with potentially more match winners on the bench.
The importance of the fixture to both clubs could create a tension that makes it difficult to play with a lot of freedom, but all three fixtures between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United that have been played this season have been full of final third opportunities. Only poor finished meant the last Premier League game finished 1-0, but the other two finished with three and seven goals shared out respectively.
It does have to be said that James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski were key figures in those Tottenham Hotspur wins and so the absences will be felt. Someone will have to try and step up and that is why the lean is with Manchester United to secure the victory and vital place in the Champions League for next season.
Goals could be the outcome of this Final with both teams expected to find the net before the winner is decided.
Tension will increase the longer we don't find the opening goal, but a first half strike could open the fixture up and the poor defensive performances we have seen all season from both Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United are hard to ignore. The latter have continued to concede far too many goals in the Europa League, but Manchester United should be able to hurt Spurs too and backing at least three goals to be shared out looks the play.
The Pick :
Tottenham Hotspur 2-3 Manchester United
