A thrilling climax to an otherwise drab game saw Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United share the spoils in north London.
Spurs went from 1-0 down to 2-1 up in the closing stages, only for the Red Devils to grab a late, late equaliser.
Here are our Scout Notes from north London.
TWO SIDES WITH SOME WAY STILL TO GO
From what we’ve seen in the first 11 Gameweeks, these two sides are a bit better than they were last season (not difficult…) but a long way from being formidable opposition.
Saturday’s game highlighted the deficiencies that still exist.
Spurs, in particular, were poor. And again, poor at home. After the midweek win over Copenhagen, which Thomas Frank had called a “step forward”, we wrote about the inevitability of the Lilywhites taking two back this weekend. So it proved, with the hosts flat against United.
Frank’s side are ranked a lacklustre 15th for both minutes per xG and xG conceded in 2025/26, highlighting the size of the task at hand. Of particular worry is the home record:
Above: Teams sorted by the worst ‘minutes per xG’ records in home matches this season
The attack is the biggest problem right now, with the ever-tinkering Frank yet to really hit on a winning combination. Mohammed Kudus (£6.6m) missed out here, with Xavi Simons (£6.7m) the only bright spark from the starting XI. His second-half withdrawal was booed.
“We are searching to find the right balance up front. I think when we look at the game back, I think there were positive bits going forward also from the game.
“We constantly work on the relationship and try to improve it with the players and try to find what is exactly the right blend, but I think there were small steps in the right direction.” – Thomas Frank
Two subs made the difference, with Mathys Tel (£6.3m) levelling it up before the lively Wilson Odobert‘s (£5.3m) shot deflected in off Richarlison (£6.4m). Before that, the closest Spurs had come were two set-piece attempts from Cristian Romero (£5.0m) and Micky van de Ven (£4.8m). Set plays are definitely one area that Frank has improved.
As for United, they weren’t great either. However, they can point to the fact that they were 1-0 up from the 32nd minute, so the onus wasn’t on them to fling bodies forward, and they were largely comfortable until Tel’s bolt from the blue. Another mitigating circumstance was a triple injury blow (more of which below), the last of which left United down to 10 men with the score at 1-1.
“If you look to the game and if you feel the environment, we have so much to grow as a team, because today was our day to win this game.
“I think it’s more we need to look at ourselves. We were not pressing with the same intensity, because we felt comfortable. We need to understand that but to feel also that if we have a little bit more bravery, we can kill this game.” – Ruben Amorim
NEW ROLE FOR MBEUMO – BUT SAME RESULT
There was always a strong possibility that Ruben Amorim would go without Benjamin Sesko (£7.3m) for this fixture but what we weren’t expecting was for Amad Diallo (£6.3m) to play as right-sided ’10’ and Bryan Mbeumo (£8.4m) to move over to the left.
No matter: Mbeumo scored from that position after half an hour, registering his first-ever headed Premier League goal. Amad supplied the assist.
Mbeumo is a class apart at the moment. Not just the most dangerous United attacker on the eye, he’s FPL’s leading midfielder for non-penalty expected goal involvement (NPxGI). That’s four goals in as many matches for the Cameroon international now.
Bruno Fernandes (£8.9m) and Matheus Cunha (£7.9m) were subdued by comparison. But why do we own Bruno? Two main reasons: multiple routes to points and a 90-minute man status. Both came to the fore on Saturday, as he was still around in second-half stoppage time to assist Mathijs de Ligt (£5.0m) from a corner.
The much-improved de Ligt, incidentally, has played every minute for United this season. He, along with Casemiro (£5.5m), banked DefCon points for the fourth time in 2025/26. Just one clean sheet in 11 Gameweeks remains the stick to beat him with.
KUDUS LATEST
Onto injuries, and what chance of Kudus being fit for the north London derby? Very good, according to Frank – although he does tend to be over-confident with initial prognoses. At least this one is just a knock.
“The knock, just too short a turnaround. Keeping him out for Tuesday game and this game. Very confident that he should be available for the next one.” – Thomas Frank on Mohammed Kudus, via the Standard
Frank meanwhile confirmed that Romero was “fine” despite his late withdrawal.
Randal Kolo Muani (£6.9m) however suffered a fractured jaw on Saturday and has pulled out of international duty.
SESKO INJURY + THREE OTHER CONCERNS
United may have bigger concerns for Gameweek 12.
Kobbie Mainoo (£4.7m) missed out with a “knock”, while Amorim later said he “had to take out” Casemiro and Harry Maguire (£4.4m). The latter seemed to be holding his hamstring.
Amorim’s chief worry, however, is Sesko, whose calamitous appearance off the bench lasted 30 minutes before he hobbled off.
“We have to check. He has something in his knee. Let’s see.” – Ruben Amorim on Benjamin Sesko
“I don’t know [about the injured players], I have to check. My biggest concern is with Ben. Not because [he is any more important]… for me, they are all the same but it seems like we need to understand what happened.” – Ruben Amorim
