Tottenham Hotspur will host Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League Final on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, at the San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao, Spain.
The Europa Final will be a perfect occasion for both teams to salvage their disastrous Premier League seasons and miraculously reserve a precious spot in next season’s UEFA Champions League.
It is important to note that both teams are currently 16th and 17th in the Premier League table, but safe from Championship relegation.
This tactical analysis & match preview of the 2024/2025 UEFA Europa League Final explores both teams’ expected tactics and formations under Ruben Amorim and Ange Postecoglou.
The Europa Final analysis will also aim to identify how both teams need to play to lift the trophy and how to avoid risking loss.
Tottenham Hotspur Lineup & Formation
With only one match remaining in the Premier League, Tottenham hold the 17th spot with 38 points, having won 11 matches, drawn five, and lost 21 games.
Losing 21 games in the Premier League sounds catastrophic for a club with the resources and history of one considered among the top six in the United Kingdom.
In the UEFA Europa League, Spurs‘ season was good enough.
They succeeded in qualifying for the knockout rounds without much trouble, with a single loss against Galatasaray and two draws against AS Roma and Rangers.
In the knockouts, they made a comeback against AZ Alkmaar and won 3-1 in the second leg after losing 1-0 in the first leg.
In the quarter-finals, they passed Eintracht Frankfurt‘s test and then ended Bodø/Glimt’s dream with a 1-5 final result, giving Tottenham a huge boost ahead of the final.
Things will be different for Tottenham in the final, as they will be facing an English side accustomed to their playing style, strengths, and weaknesses.
Postecoglou must avoid being predictable in this match and try to vary his attacking and defensive plans for this specific encounter.
Otherwise, it would be complicated to battle against Manchester United, who are also eager to win this trophy.
Postecoglou has been alternating between the 4-2-3-1 formation and the 4-3-3 formation lately.
He used the 4-3-3 formation in the last encounter between the two teams and won the match.
It is also important to note that Postecoglou’s Tottenham have the advantage over Manchester United this season, having won three out of four games played.
With Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, and Pape Matar Sarr likely to be absent in the final, it is mostly predicted that Postecoglou will start the initial match with the formation 4-3-3, mainly because he has been using it in most key matches.
In order to adapt his formation to the current absences and avoid surprises, Postecoglou will most likely start the match with Guglielmo Vicario as a goalkeeper, Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, and Destiny Udogie in Spurs defence.
The midfield will most likely be formed of Yves Bissouma, Rodrigo Bentancur and Pape Matar Sarr if he recovers 100% from his injury, as suggested recently.
Otherwise, Lucas Bergvall will have the chance to start instead of Sarr or replace him during the game, knowing that both choices help Tottenham win the midfield battle.
Playing with three midfielders will also be beneficial, mainly because Manchester United will most likely be using their 3-4-2-1 formation, making it complicated to beat that midfield, at least in terms of numerical superiority, if using only two central midfielders.
The attack will likely consist of Brennan Johnson and Son Heung-min on the wings and Dominic Solanke as the team’s main striker.
It will be crucial for Tottenham tactics to have both of their wingers in top form today, as the wingers’ role is crucial in that game.
In other words, Spurs will need to intensify their attacks from the wings to exploit Manchester United’s 3-4-2-1 formation’s defensive weaknesses.
This formation obliges its users to leave some spaces unprotected on the wings due to the wing-backs’ constant attacking support.
Manchester United Formation & Lineup
Just like Tottenham, Man United’s Premier League journey has been catastrophic.
They hold 16th spot with 10 wins, 18 losses, and nine draws.
At the same time, the Red Devils‘ UEFA Europa League journey has been positive.
They passed to the knockout phase without being knocked out by Real Sociedad, Olympique Lyonnais, and Athletic Bilbao in matches that were complicated for Manchester United, especially in the quarter-finals and semi-finals.
Amorim will most likely use his usual 3-4-2-1 formation against Tottenham in the final, as his playing system is mainly based on this formation.
A surprising change of formation is possible yet unlikely since it will be tough for the head coach and the players to quickly understand the tactical requirements and the movements and roles needed for each player to succeed.
Therefore, and as opposed to Tottenham, Manchester United are expected to start the match without wingers but with two advanced playmakers and a striker: Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho, plus Rasmus Højlund as a striker.
Amorim will possibly use Mason Mount during the game, too, knowing that Joshua Zirkzee will be unavailable.
This means that Manchester United will be lacking options up front.
The defence will more likely consist of André Onana as a goalkeeper, Noussair Mazraoui, Harry Maguire, and Victor Lindelöf as centre-backs, as these three defenders will need to limit the threat of Solanke, Johnson, and especially Son Heung-min.
In midfield, the best option will be to use both Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte as central midfielders with defensive and attacking duties, plus Patrick Dorgu and Amad Diallo.
Both players are quick enough to contribute upfront and be supportive in the defensive phase, especially when defending against Johnson and Son Heung-min.
Europa League Final Tactics: Attacking Plans & Mistakes To Avoid
Tottenham will have to make up for their EPL failure this season, and therefore, they will need to be prudent yet dangerous in order to score and gain the advantage against Manchester United.
To succeed in that, opting for the 4-3-3 formation will be helpful as explained above.
However, using the wings will be crucial for Tottenham to create the needed threat, especially considering that the three Manchester United centre-backs are not as quick as necessary to keep up with the pace of Tottenham’s forwards.
It is worth noting that Tottenham’s single goal during the latest encounter between the two was scored thanks to an exploitation of a second ball following the goalkeeper’s mistake.
And in the one before, Tottenham scored four goals, including a direct corner-kick from Son Heung-min and, more importantly, a solo effort from Solanke to score a beautiful goal.
Dominic Solanke Attacking Threat
This allows us to conclude that it will be worthwhile for Tottenham to rely on set-pieces to try scoring and aim at penetrating both from the wings and from the middle given that a player like Solanke is always capable of passing through a defence like that of Manchester United especially if he receives the ball a bit backward.
The following goal action highlights Solanke’s threat and ability to penetrate the box, dribbling past the encountered defenders and finishing with accuracy and success despite the disturbance.
Moreover, relying on quick overlaps on both wings followed by quick and accurate crosses can surely hurt Manchester United and help disorganise their defence as it did during one of their conceded goals against Tottenham in December 2024.
The Importance Of Overlaps & Crosses
This action shows how quick and dangerous the team can be, especially on the left wing, where Son Heung-min is present.
In addition, this overlap made it very easy to eliminate two defenders and give the ball holder the chance to cross freely, having the space and time needed to concentrate only on the cross.
Intensifying such overlaps on the left and right wings would be beneficial for Tottenham as it would hurt Manchester United and confuse their defensive system.
At the same time, the continuous support of at least one or two of the midfielders will be essential to gaining numerical superiority inside the final third and having more chances to score, either by finding more players at the receiving end of crosses or by using the midfielders for shots from distance.
Although Onana is an excellent goalkeeper, he can be punished with powerful shots from distance as he often commits mistakes, especially when the shots are well-angled.
Manchester United Adaptability To Formations
For Manchester United, it is essential to point out that Amorim is used to changing formations during games and will not hesitate to do so, especially when trying to defend an advantage and switching to a 4-4-2 formation, as in the following case.
Being able to switch formations without impacting performance represents a valuable experience for the players, who will cope well with a similar change of formations if it occurs during the final.
The timing and, more importantly, the objective of such a change will also determine whether it will be needed against Tottenham.
With 1.43 goals scored per game and 10.3 shots per game, Manchester United can hurt Tottenham.
However, they need to be very creative and determined to succeed.
Rasmus Højlund Movement & Finishing
Relying on Højlund’s movements into space and his abilities in the air will likely help create the needed danger by providing passes at the back of the defensive line or crosses towards the box for him.
Manchester United already tends to use crosses so often, with the aim of finding Højlund on the near post to finish the action inside the net.
They scored many goals thanks to such actions and mainly thanks to Højlund’s excellent positioning inside the box and his ability to escape from marking, exactly like he did against Athletic Club during this goal action.
Moreover, the solution can be found in a player like Mason Mount, who can be considered a super sub who usually comes in from the bench to perform better and make a difference.
Mount can confuse Tottenham’s defence simply because he can impressively alternate positions and use the half-spaces.
He moves like a winger and an advanced playmaker, having the traits of both positions, unlike Fernandes, who is a pure midfielder.
During the match, he is a leader.
Amorim can also switch to an attacking match: Højlund as a striker, Mount as a left-winger and Diallo or Garnacho as a right-winger.
Mason Mount Curved Shots
This can make things more complicated for Tottenham, as Manchester United would exploit the wings further in this way, creating more spaces in the middle, especially with joining midfielders filling the void inside the final third.
This example highlights Mount’s danger and his ability to create a lot of danger inside the box.
He can be extremely decisive in terms of curved shots, knowing that this goal against Athletic Bilbao was scored near the end of the match.
Conclusion
Tottenham have a slight advantage in this game simply because they won in this season’s previous encounters and are, therefore, the favourites to win this one, too.
At the same time, this fact should not make them overconfident of the win simply because their season has not been successful so far, and they have already lost many important games.
On the other hand, Manchester United will be eager to win, and they have the resources needed to surprise Tottenham.
That said, it will be crucial for them to defend well and avoid defensive mistakes in such a decisive final.
