Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will look to start his path to redemption as Manchester United manager against familiar opponent Nuno Espirito Santo.
The under-fire Norwegian takes his wounded United side to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday where he will face Nuno as the Spurs boss for the first time.
Solskjaer and Nuno know all about one and other and the ‘baby-faced assassin’ hasn’t faced any other manager in English football as frequently as the Portuguese (Transfermarkt).
Saturday evening’s clash between the pair will be the ninth instalment of Nuno v Ole, but how have the previous eight fixtures turned out
Nuno v Solskjaer means fine margins
In the eight games between the pair, there have only been 13 goals and there hasn’t been more than three goals scored in any match.
There have been two 0-0 draws, the most recent of which came on Bruno Fernandes’ debut for Manchester United.
After back-to-back 2-1 defeats at Molineux, including an FA Cup quarter-final, Solskjaer didn’t earn his first win against Nuno until the fifth attempt.
Solskjaer comes into Saturday’s tea time kick off winning the last two, which included Nuno’s last game as Wolves boss at Molineux and Marcus Rashford scoring a last-gasp deflected winner at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer’s overall record against the Tottenham manager is played eight, won three, lost three and drawn two.
Could things be different this time around?
Between Tottenham (13) and United (15), they have conceded 28 goals combined from each of their opening nine league matches.
But with Spurs only scoring nine times in the Premier League this season, it’s highly unlikely that Nuno is suddenly going to adopt a gung-ho approach.
However, following last weekend’s massacre at Old Trafford, he will be aware that this United team is extremely fragile and could be tempted to be adventurous which could exploit Solskjaer side’s multiple current weaknesses.
Solskjaer will take any win, in any shape or form, but looking at the tale of the tape, it doesn’t look like a match against Nuno is going to bring fireworks, which for Manchester United right now, could be a welcomed relief.
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