MANCHESTER United are closing in on an 18th league title – their 11th in the Premier League – and they play Spurs for the fourth time this season in Saturday s late kick-off. The champions were held to a scoreless draw at the Lane in the first league meet

MANCHESTER United are closing in on an 18th league title - their 11th in the Premier League - and they play Spurs for the fourth time this season in Saturday's late kick-off.

The champions were held to a scoreless draw at the Lane in the first league meeting in December before knocking Tottenham out of the FA Cup in January at Old Trafford.

Sir Alex Ferguson's men collected the Carling Cup on March 1, beating Tottenham on penalties in the Wembley final.

The victory raised hopes of a quadruple of Carling and FA Cups, Champions League and Premier League titles, but were scuppered when they lost to Everton on penalties in Sunday's FA Cup semi-final.

Former Spur Dimitar Berbatov missed from the spot in the 4-2 shoot-out in a match where Ferguson rested a spate of first-team regulars.

Neither Edwin Van der Sar, Wayne Rooney nor Cristiano Ronaldo played at Wembley. But the trio are sure to feature against Spurs, who held The Red Devils to a scoreless draw at the Lane. Michael Carrick is another ex-Spur who is expected to feature on Saturday after being rested against the Toffees.

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