Tyrell Malacia was one of Manchester United’s best players in the opening weeks of the season, but the Dutchman is experiencing a rough patch.
After nailing down the left-back position, worrying displays against Manchester City and Omonia in Cyprus showed his relative inexperience. He was hooked at half-time in both games, being replaced by Luke Shaw.
Shaw has had somewhat of a revival since the international break, in which he scored the opener in England’s 3-3 draw with Germany. He has been selected to start the last two Premier League games against Everton and Newcastle.
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He played 90 minutes in both outings, also keeping clean sheets against the Magpies and in the 1-0 Europa League win over Omonia at Old Trafford. It throws up an interesting decision for Erik ten Hag ahead of Tottenham.
Both Shaw and Malacia undoubtedly have differing qualities, and whichever one the Reds boss chooses to start against Spurs may indicate his confidence in the team - a team which scraped wins over Omonia and couldn’t score against Newcastle.
Malacia will forever be his first signing as United boss and the Dutchman will naturally have a preferential leniency towards his acquisition over Shaw. Malacia has been excellent going forward, supporting Jadon Sancho or Marcus Rashford on the wing.
But his troubles against Phil Foden and his error that led to Omonia’s opener in the 3-2 away win highlighted that his defensive game is not yet complete. Shaw’s first-third duties are more rounded but his forward game isn’t as defined as Malacia’s, despite his England goal.
It goes without saying that both players can do sterling jobs going either way on their day. But if Ten Hag selects Malacia then it will indicate that he will adopt his traditional aggressive mindset against Tottenham, thus underscoring his confidence in taking the game to Spurs.
Meanwhile, Shaw offers more security defensively and will not allow as much space in behind for Matt Doherty and Son Heung-min. Selecting him would indicate that a more defensive approach will be attained, hinting that he isn’t as confident about taking the front foot.
Shaw arguably deserves to be picked on form and, besides, he will have a better idea of how to deal with Harry Kane if the pair cross lines.
But Malacia is Ten Hag’s signing and is another attacking outlet that can expose the space left by Doherty when he is pushed high up the pitch.
United will possibly have both Christian Eriksen and Anthony Martial back which will bolster their chances. This too could sway which way Ten Hag leans with his left-back choice.
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