EPL Betting – Tottenham at Manchester United

Tottenham (+500) at Manchester United (-153), Draw (+300)

After dropping ridiculous coin in the transfer market, Manchester United and manager Louis Van Gaal can’t afford another mediocre season. Their English Premier League opener (this Saturday at 7:45 AM Eastern at Old Trafford) against Tottenham is a must win for the Red Devils, who finished fourth last season, a full 17 points behind champions Chelsea.

Despite finishing well back of the Blues, United’s fourth-place finish was good enough to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. But the powers-that-be clearly weren’t comfortable heading into 2015-16 with the same roster, getting rid of strikers Robin Van Persie and Radamel Falcao along with winger Anger Di Maria in the summer. New in town are Javier Chicharito Hernandez, Bastien Schweinsteiger, and Memphis Depay.  The team is also trying to get Barcelona striker Pedro along with defender Sergio Ramos.

Unfortunately for Van Gaal, his squad won’t have David De Gea guarding the net against Tottenham; the keeper will sit out after being linked to a Real Madrid transfer.

“He shall not play,” Van Gaal said in his press conference. “We are living in a crazy football world. The transfer period is still going on and the competition is starting as well. You never know what will happen. You know we have problems with De Gea.”

United’s opponents, Tottenham, finished a strong fifth last season (given their roster), six points behind Manchester United in the standings. As the fifth-place team, they were the first squad to miss out on the Champions League, but they’ll compete in the Europa League as a consolation prize.  The Spurs are looking to make a jump to the top-four in the EPL standings this season; striker Harry Kane will be feeling a ton of pressure to become a superstar for the team and taken them to the next level.

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino isn’t concerned about the pressure getting to his young star-in-the-making, though. “I am not worried about Harry. He came back after the Euros [Under-21 Championships] late in his preparations but I am not worried. He is ready to compete on Saturday against Manchester United,” said Pochettino, as quoted by the Mirror.

Man United won last season’s meeting at Old Trafford with a comfortable 3-0 result, but this time the Red Devils seem to be lacking playmakers on offense after the departure of Falcao and Van Persie.  I’m taking the draw in this highly anticipated EPL opener.

Pick: Draw.

(Photo credit: Austin Osuide [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)