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5 changes Manchester United need to make to their playing style to win against Spurs

AFC Bournemouth v Manchester United - Premier League
Matic and Lukaku will be crucial for United against Spurs

In this season, Manchester United have shown a lack of consistency and this has derailed their campaign in both Premier League and Champions League. The only chance to finish their season on a high note is by winning the FA Cup.

Manchester United are the second most successful side in the history of FA Cup. If they want to win their 13th FA Cup, they have to first win their semifinals against Tottenham Hotspur and will likely face Chelsea in the finals.

In the last two games, they have shown two sides of their playing style. Against West Bromwich, they abjectly surrendered without putting up a fight which gifted the Premier League title to Manchester City. Their away game against Bournemouth was much better as they made fewer mistakes and were lucid in their overall play.

Here are the five changes that they need to make to come out victorious against Tottenham at Wembley:


#5 Guarding against set pieces

Poor defending during set pieces continues
Poor defending during set pieces continues

On numerous occasions this season, the Red Devils have faltered while clearing set pieces. In their match against Manchester City, Kompany scored from a corner as he was left free by Chris Smalling in the box, while Matic was clearly at fault while playing West Bromwich. He failed to clear the ball and Jay Rodriguez scored the winner.

Jose Mourinho has always stressed the importance of being defensively sound. In his post-match conference, after the West Bromwich game, he had the following things to say:

"I think we were deservedly punished. We were masters in complication, everything was complicated. We didn't want [to play] or couldn't play simple, everything was slow, one more flick, trick, turn."

It is important for United to learn from their mistakes and be alert while defending set-pieces. If Manchester United aspire to win against Spurs, they need to be alert and not make any errors while defending corners or free-kicks.

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