Tottenham Hotspur have announced that they are making a managerial change just three days before Manchester United make the trip to face the North London club in the Premier League.
Antonio Conte was sacked by the club last month and Cristian Stellini, the Italian manager’s assistant, stayed on as caretaker manager.
A run of poor results has, however, seen Stellini become the subject of intense criticism and after conceding six goals to Newcastle United at the weekend, his luck ran out.
Tottenham announced on Monday evening that Stellini would be stepping down from his role as caretaker manager, with former player Ryan Mason now set to take charge of the side for the visit of United on Tuesday.
United are currently six points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham but the Reds have two games in hand – victory over the Londoners would go a long way towards securing a return to the Champions League.
A defeat for the home side would almost certainly end any hopes of doing the same and now, there is the added twist of a potential ‘new manager bounce’.
United will, however, be looking to end the season strongly after a topsyturvy couple of weeks. Spirits are high at Carrington following the dramatic FA Cup semi-final against Brighton but Ten Hag could be without one of the stars from that game on Thursday.
Bruno Fernandes sustained an ankle injury in the first half but the Portuguese star stayed on the pitch until extra-time when he was hauled off by the manager.
The stand-in skipper was seen limping at Wembley after United’s shootout victory and now, there are suggestions that he could miss the trip to Tottenham.
Should he miss the game, Christian Eriksen is a candidate to play in that advanced role but Marcel Sabitzer is also an option, with Eriksen then dropping deeper to play alongside Casemiro.
