Manchester United looking up to Spurs

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is bracing for a tough, physical premier league clash with Tottenham Hotspur as his English champions try to scale the heights of Glenn Hoddle's side.

The two sides meet at White Hart Lane for a match where the spotlight is destined to fall on Spurs captain Teddy Sheringham.

For the first time since leaving Old Trafford, the veteran striker will be facing the club he helped win the 1999 European Cup final against Bayern Munich with a historic injury-time equaliser in Barcelona.

But more than the ball skills of the team assembled by Hoddle in his first full season in charge, Ferguson appeared concerned with their sheer physical presence on the north London pitch.

"It will be a hard game -- they're a big, tough, physical side now," the United manager told the club's website.

"I've had a look at their squad and they've got six players over 6' 2". That's going to present a problem at set-pieces -- we'll have to be really good on them."

Some of the extra muscle in the Spurs side will come in the form of Dean Richards, freshly arrived from Southampton following the summer departure of skipper Sol Campbell to archrivals Arsenal.

"It will take Glenn a while to get what he's after, but expectation at Tottenham is always high, there's a big job to be done," said Ferguson. "He's started the right way though."

Sheringham Factor
Someone else who has started the right way according to the United manager is Sheringham, a United player for the past four years.

"He's revelled in the role of captain, he's been playing exceptionally well. It was a good move for him at this stage of his career."

As for the likely outcome, Ferguson knows that White Hart Lane has not been a happy hunting ground for his side recently.

"We've not had a great record over the last few years. We've lost the last two and drawn the one before," he said.

"Last year, it was the end of the season and we'd won the league already. But the season before we absolutely outplayed them and how we lost 3-1 I'll never know."

This weekend's action also sees the first west London derby between Fulham and Chelsea in the top flight for 34 years, while league leaders Leeds United visit fellow UEFA Cup hopefuls Ipswich Town, Arsenal travel to Derby County and Liverpool are away to Newcastle United.