Tottenham and Manchester United face season-defining Europa League ties on Thursday night after both enduring awful seasons by their high standards.
Man United host Lyon at Old Trafford following Andre Onana’s calamitous errors which allowed the French side to claim a 2-2 draw.
For Ange Postecoglou’s side, they travel to the Frankfurt fortress after a disappointing 1-1 stalemate in the first leg.
After 32 games, Spurs and Man United sit in the bottom half of the Premier League table, 15th and 14th respectively in a horrendous domestic campaign.
This leaves both Ruben Amorim and Postecoglou under pressure and fighting for their jobs, relying on European glory to avoid the sack.
Since Amorim’s arrival in United’s 1-1 draw with Ipswich back in November 2024, only West Ham, Tottenham, Southampton and the soon-to-be relegated Ipswich and Leicester are below the Red Devils. Here, Mail Sport compares just how bad the two managers have been in the 2024-25 season using statistics from Opta in all competitions since November 23.
Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham have endured a torrid season in the Premier League
Spurs sit 15th in the league standings after suffering their 17th loss of the campaign on Sunday Sunday against Wolves
Manchester United have not fared much better and sit just a place about the north London side
Spurs and United have remarkably both won 12 matches, with Amorim having the lowest win percentage of any Red Devils manager in the Premier League (29 per cent).
Yet, Postecoglou has lost three more games than Amorim (14 v 11), highlighting how poor the Lilywhites have been this season.
Spurs have endured an injury crisis far worse than the 2023-24 season, yet. with nearly the full first team back, they are still struggling to win games with excuses running out.
Tottenham fans are falling out of love with Postecoglou and Daniel Levy with the ‘Time for Change’ protests ramping up with every game they lose this campaign.
The 2024-25 campaign has been disastrous with Postecoglou’s tactics and man management causing issues on and off the field, becoming flustered in post-match interviews in contrast to his usual calm demeanour.
This has led to a shaky relationship with fans, who initially welcomed the former Celtic boss, as exhibited in their 4-2 loss to Wolves where Postecoglou opted to not approach fans.
Despite their underwhelming league form, Amorim has managed to maintain United’s undefeated status in the Europa League, potentially boding well for their chance to progress into the semi-finals.
Spurs have lost four more games than the Red Devils and are currently on a run of three defeats in their last four matches
Manchester United’s 4-1 defeat by Newcastle ensured that they will finish the season with their lowest-ever Premier League points tally
Since Amorim’s arrival in November, only Tottenham, Wolves and the sides in the relegation zone have earned fewer points than United
Despite winning two trophies in his two previous campaigns, Erik ten Hag’s poor start to the campaign condemned him to the sack, paving the way for the former Sporting Lisbon manager to take his place in the United dug out.
Ten Hag and his backroom staff received £10.4m following their dismissal while Sir Jim Ratcliffe forked out £9.25m to release Amorim from his contract with the Portuguese champions.
Amorim has been completely honest about Man United and their current troubles in what is set to be a big period of transition for the club.
The Portuguese has been frank in describing the club as ‘maybe the worst’ team in the 147-year history of the club.
Meanwhile, although they languish in 15th in the Premier League table, Tottenham have a +11 goal difference, better than the likes of Aston Villa, Fulham and Brighton who are all in the top half of the table.
Postecoglou’s free-flowing attacking side have scored 59 goals in all competitions, 10 more than United.
Interestingly, the Lilywhites have massively outperformed their expected goals (47.8) whereas Man United are performing as expected (49.3).
United’s shots per game (14.3) dwarfs Tottenham (12.3), but the Red Devils’ shot conversion rate (10.7) is a concern for Amorim and a reason for their woes in front of goal.
Despite their lowly position, Spurs have continued to be a threat in attack and remarkably have a +11 goal difference
Rasmus Hojlund has been criticised for being goal-shy this season, scoring just eight times in 43 matches in all competitions.
In terms of creativity, Tottenham are superior to Manchester United across the board especially in open play crosses where Spurs have nearly 100 more crosses, likely down to Postecoglou’s play style.
Spurs average 12.5 crosses per game, 2.2 more than Man United, yet the latter has a better crossing accuracy of 21.2 per cent.
Tottenham also get more passes into the final third and into the box, although United have had marginally more touches in the box with 917 to Spurs’ 900.
Both sides have come under fire for their weaknesses at the back this season, particularly with shaky performances from both sets of keepers.
Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir have both made mistakes in United’s recent games against Lyon and Newcastle whilst Guglielmo Vicario had a shocker in Spurs’ 4-2 loss to Wolves.
Tottenham and Manchester United have conceded 53 and 48 goals respectively, conceding 1.6 and 1.5 goals respectively per 90.
Postecoglou has come under fire for his poor defensive record which is supported by his whopping 60.6 expected goals against, proving the Lilywhites have been fortunate to not have conceded more.
Both side are inflicted with the problem of error-prone goalkeepers, with Andre Onana costing Man United a first-leg lead against Lyon
Guglielmo Vicario produced one of his performances in a Spurs shirt in the 4-2 defeat by Wolves on Sunday
The damming defensive statistics continue, with Spurs facing just over 100 shots more than United.
United win more tackles per game (20.1) than Spurs (17.3), hinting at why they have conceded less than the North London side.
Spurs have also produced a huge 38 errors leading to shots, 14 more than the Red Devils – proof of their tendency cede possession in their defensive third through sloppy passes and poor decision-making.
The Tottenham high line is the likely cause for the extortionate number of chances they give to their opponents, a style Postecoglou has refused to adapt given their defensive issues.
Amorim’s pragmatic back five has seen better defensive results than Spurs but still an alarming number of mistakes is undoing the good work they strive to produce.
This was evident in United’s 4-1 loss to Newcastle where both Noussair Mazraoui and Bayindir were directly at fault for two of Newcastle’s goals.
The Europa League offers an opportunity for these stumbling managers to attempt to restore faith in their tenures at their respective clubs.
Many pundits feel Postecoglou will leave the club regardless of winning the Europa League with Jamie Carragher saying the Frankfurt game could be the nail in the coffin.
The Red Devils’ defence has shown signs of improvement in recent weeks as Amorim’s message appears to be finally getting through to the players
The Europa League provides the last chances for both teams clubs to qualify for the Champions League, though even that is unlikely to save Postecoglou from the sack
Speaking on Sky Sports he said, ‘I think if they go out to Eintracht Frankfurt in the cup, it probably would be a shake hands and move on to something different for both parties in terms of the manager and the club.’
For Amorim, the Europa League could offer hope to potential long-term success for the Red Devils.
Given the Portuguese has not had a full summer to arrange his squad, inheriting a group of players he didn’t ask for, winning the Europa League would be a huge boost to his backing.