Manchester United v Tottenham preview: winless Spurs head to Old Trafford bottom of the table

Manchester United host Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on Saturday 10 October, with kick-off at 5.30pm BST, in a meeting of two clubs that have made poor starts to the Premier League season. Michael Carrick's United are 12th with five points from five matches. Roberto De Zerbi's Tottenham are bottom, 20th, with two points and no league win yet.

How do Manchester United arrive?

United have one win in five: a 5-2 home victory over Ipswich Town on 30 August. They lost 2-0 at Hull City on the opening weekend and 1-0 at home to Manchester City on 13 September, and drew with Everton (2-2) and Fulham (1-1). At Craven Cottage on 20 September, Matheus Cunha's deflected shot in the 89th minute rescued a point after Fulham had gone ahead through a Lisandro Martínez own goal.

The Premier League's own round-up pointed out that five points from five games equals the club's lowest total at this stage of a Premier League season, matching 2014-15. That year United recovered to finish fourth. It is a sharp contrast with last season, when United took more points than any other team from mid-January, after Carrick took charge.

Off the pitch, the club is dealing with the case of 16-year-old forward JJ Gabriel, who, according to ESPN, has not trained with United since 16 September after a dispute over playing time.

How do Tottenham arrive?

Spurs have been bottom since losing 3-2 at home to Aston Villa on 19 September. Before that they lost 3-0 at Brentford and 2-0 at home to Newcastle, then drew 0-0 with Nottingham Forest and Everton. They have scored twice in five games.

The club spent heavily in the summer, committing more than £380m on new players according to ESPN, after two consecutive 17th-place finishes. Chief executive Vinai Venkatesham told the club's Fan Advisory Board that he was encouraged by the underlying performances and confident in De Zerbi and the new signings, while accepting supporters' frustration.

Former captain Ledley King, speaking at a Hall of Fame event, said one positive result could change the mood quickly. He pointed to last season, when De Zerbi arrived in March and kept the team up after a 15-match winless run in the league.

Team news

Tottenham will check on captain Micky van de Ven, who went off with a hand injury after Serbia striker Luka Jović landed on him in the Netherlands' 2-1 win on Sunday. Netherlands coach Xavi Hernández said it was not a big problem. Fellow centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke withdrew from the Dutch squad in late September with a foot injury. For United, Patrick Dorgu limped off after 30 minutes of Denmark's game against Wales earlier in the break.

Last five league results

What is at stake?

A Tottenham win would lift them to five points, level with United, and could take them out of the bottom three depending on results for Fulham and Coventry City. A United win would put Carrick's side on eight points and open a six-point gap over Spurs. After this game, United visit Leeds on 18 October and Tottenham host Coventry on 19 October.