An exciting climax to an otherwise dull match saw Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United share the spoils in north London.
Spurs went from 1-0 to 2-1 in the closing stages, but the Red Devils grabbed a late, late equalizer.
Here are our Scout Notes from North London.
TWO SIDES WITH STILL SOME WAY TO GO
From what we have seen in the first eleven gameweeks, these two teams are a little better than last season (not difficult…), but they are still far from being a formidable opponent.
Saturday’s match exposed the shortcomings that still exist.
The Spurs were especially bad. 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. This also became apparent when the home team played close against United.
Frank’s side sit a poor 15th for both minutes per xG and xG against in 2025/26, underscoring the magnitude of the task. Of particular importance is the home record:
Above: Teams sorted by worst ‘minutes per xG’ records in home games this season
The attack is the biggest problem at the moment, with the ever-tinkering Frank still unable to realize a real winning combination. Mohammed Jerusalem (£6.6m) missed here, with Xavi Simons (£6.7m) the only bright spark of the starting XI. His withdrawal in the second half was booed.
“We are looking for the right balance up front. I think looking back at the game, I think there were positive things that came out of the game as well.
“We are constantly working on the relationship and trying to improve it with the players and trying to find what exactly the right mix is, but I think there were small steps in the right direction.” –Thomas Frank
Two subs made the difference, with Mathijs Tel (£6.3m) and takes it to the next level for the lively Wilson Odobert‘s (£5.3m) shot was deflected Richarlison (£6.4 million). Before that, the closest Spurs had come was after two set-piece attempts Christian Romero (£5.0 million) and Micky van de Ven (£4.8 million). Setplay is certainly an 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 it wasn’t up to them to throw bodies forward, and they were largely comfortable until Tel came out of nowhere. Another extenuating circumstance was a triple injury (more of which below), the latter of which left United down to 10 men with the score tied at 1-1.
“If you watch the match and feel the environment, we still have a lot to grow as a team because today was our day to win this match.
“I think it’s more that we have to look at ourselves. We didn’t press with the same intensity because we felt comfortable. We have to understand that, but also feel that if we have a little more courage, we can kill this match.” – Ruben Amorim
NEW ROLE FOR MBEUMO – BUT SAME RESULT
There was always a good chance that Ruben Amorim would go without Benjamin Sesko (£7.3 million) for this match, but what we didn’t expect was for Amad Diallo (£6.3m) to play as right-sided ’10’ and Bryan Mbeumo (£8.4m) to move left.
Doesn’t matter: Mbeumo scored from that position after half an hour and registered his first-ever headed Premier League goal. Amad provided the assist.
Mbeumo is currently in a class of his own. As well as being the most dangerous United forward, he is also the FPL’s leading midfielder in terms of non-penalty expected goal involvement (NPxGI). That is now four goals in as many games for the Cameroon international.
Bruno Fernandes (£8.9 million) and Matheus Cunha (£7.9 million) were moderate in comparison. But why do we own Bruno? Two main reasons: multiple routes to points and 90-minute man status. Both came to the fore on Saturday, as he was still there to assist in second-half stoppage time Mathijs de Ligt (£5.0m) from a corner.
The much improved De Ligt has played every minute for United this season. He, along with Casemiro (£5.5m), collected DefCon points for the fourth time in 2025/26. Only one clean sheet in eleven game weeks remains the stick to beat him with.
KNITTING FROM LATEST
On injuries, and what are the chances of Kudus being fit for the North London derby? Very good, says Frank – although he sometimes has too much confidence in the initial forecasts. At least this is just a blow.
“The blow, just too short a turnaround. Keeping him out for Tuesday’s game and this game. I’m confident he should be available for the next one.” – Thomas Frank about Mohammed Kudus, via the Standard
Frank, meanwhile, confirmed that Romero was doing “fine” despite his late withdrawal.
SESKO INJURY + THREE OTHER CONCERNS
United may have bigger concerns about Gameweek 12.
Kobbie Mainoo (£4.7m) missed with a “knock”, while Amorim later said he “had to take out” Casemiro and Harry Maguire (£4.4 million). The latter seemed to be holding his hamstring.
Amorim’s biggest concern, however, is Sesko, whose appearance off the bench lasted 30 minutes before limping off.
“We need to check. He has something in his knee. Let’s see.” – Ruben Amorim about Benjamin Sesko
“Don’t know [about the injured players]I have to check it. My biggest concern is for Ben. Not because [he is any more important]…to me they are all the same, but it seems like we need to understand what happened. – Ruben Amorim
#FPL #notes #Sesko #injury #Kudus #latest #Mbeumo #scores #role