Different directions? Man United & Spurs records compared since Europa League final

Meet at Old Trafford Saturday 

Last season’s Europa League final was strange in many ways. The team that finished 17th in the Premier League – Tottenham – beat the team that finished 15th in the Premier League – Manchester United. Yes, in a European final. In many ways, it highlighted the strength of the English top-flight compared to other European divisions. Some also argued it emphasised the drop in quality in the Europa League after the change in format saw more teams go into the Champions League, and no teams drop down.

Seven months on from that night in Bilbao, in which Spurs ran out 1-0 victors thanks to a Brennan Johnson goal and won their first trophy in 17 years, Tottenham face the Red Devils again. This time travelling to Old Trafford in the Premier League. Since May 21 2025, it’s been rather contrasting journeys for the two teams, although plenty of uncertainty remains within both camps. Like the goalscorer Johnson (now at Crystal Palace), both managers that were in charge that night – Ange Postecoglou and Rúben Amorim – are now gone.

New Spurs boss Thomas Frank remains under immense pressure after a mediocre start to say the best, whilst new interim Man United manager Michael Carrick has enjoyed a superb early start in the dugout, but is only three games in. Here at Transfermarkt, we have compared the records of both clubs since that night in Bilbao and taken a look at the direction each team are heading going into the business end of the season.

Manchester United vs Tottenham – records compared since final

As things stand, 24 games into the Premier League season, Tottenham are sitting 14th in the table, and are just two points better off than they were at this stage last season. Last term was Spurs’ worst ever Premier League season. Meanwhile, Man United are currently fourth in the league, 12 points better off than this stage last season. They are also 12 points ahead of this weekend’s opponents Tottenham this term.

When we begin to look at the exact records of each of the two teams since that Europa League final, we can identify other themes. Tottenham have played 10 games more than Man United so far this season, due to having European football courtesy of that Europa League triumph, and the Red Devils crashing out of both domestic cups at the first hurdle. From those games, as illustrated in the graphic below, Man United boast a record of 1.57 points-per-game (ppg) across all competitions. Meanwhile, Tottenham’s record stands at just 1.37ppg.

We can also notice that Tottenham have actually been more defensively solid than United, conceding 1.32 goals per game, compared to the Red Devils’ 1.46 goals conceded per game. But at the other end of the pitch, it’s Man United who come out on top, boasting 1.75 goals scored per game compared to Spurs’ 1.58 goals scored per game. Tottenham have also endured 14 losses to Man United’s eight, but the clubs have roughly the same losses per game record (Man Utd: 0.29 losses per game | Tottenham: 0.37 losses per game).

Why are clubs heading in different directions?

Tottenham (€877m) currently have a higher squad market value than Man United (€719m) but we could see a swing to these figures in March’s Premier League market value update. So why do Man United find themselves back in the fight for the Champions League places whilst Spurs continue to sit just above the relegation zone? “It’s worth remembering that we finished 17th last season,” manager Frank uttered in a recent press conference.

The first area to look at is perhaps recruitment. Man United brought in in-form Premier League-proven stars in Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, who have both started life at Old Trafford well and transformed the club’s attack. Whilst striker Benjamin Sesko has had a slower start to his United career, there have been recent signs of his potential. In total United splashed out €251 million this summer, but that was mainly on that aforementioned trio.

Meanwhile, Tottenham also had a busy summer, spending a total of €221m, but it’s hard to say any of their new signings have properly hit the ground running. There were promising signs from winger Mohammed Kudus before he broke down with a long-term injury. But Xavi Simons has failed to adapt to the Premier League thus far following his €65m move – although he remains young and was always going to take to acclimatise to the new league. But there has been no real major impact from any of the summer business, with Spurs splashing out a further €55m this January to sign Conor Gallagher and Brazilian youngster Souza.

Tottenham’s signings seem to have been approached with more of a look to the future than the present, but that squad needs help now. It has also been a frustrating start for manager Frank, who has been heavily criticised for a negative style of play and a more pragmatic approach – ironically exactly what some Spurs fans were calling for last season under Postecoglou. But the real issue is that results haven’t improved a whole lot despite their more cautious approach.

Nevertheless, in Europe Spurs’ fortunes have been far more favoured, finishing fourth in the Champions League league phase table. With United, it’s important to approach with caution. We saw Ole Gunnar Solskjaer come in and inject life into the team during his interim period in charge, but there were still huge underlying problems. Carrick won’t be able to fix United overnight and get them challenging for the title again. But it’s clear to see, that this is a much more functioning team than the one that lost the Europa League final, and getting back into the Champions League could be a huge step.

For Tottenham however, it could be argued that they have regressed, or certainly not moved very far forward in that time. Both teams are still well off where they would want to be, and perhaps this Saturday’s encounter at Old Trafford can answer some more questions about where they are each at at this moment in time.