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Newcastle United icon Alan Shearer has claimed Tottenham Hotspur will lift the UEFA Europa League trophy after defeating Manchester United on Wednesday (May 21).
Spurs, who are a two-time Europa League winner, have endured a tough season in the 2024-25 term. They are in 17th place in the Premier League table with 38 points from 37 league outings, but could still qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
During a chat on The Rest is Football podcast, Shearer predicted a Spurs win in the Europa League final at San Mames in Bilbao, Spain. He opined (h/t Metro):
"Who would you say are favourites? Tottenham because of their record against Manchester United this season? They have both been rotten in the Premier League yet one of them is going to be playing Champions League football next season. My prediction is 2-2 or 3-3 after extra-time and Tottenham to win on penalties."
Spurs, who eased past Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League semi-finals, are on a three-match winning streak against Manchester United. They beat Ruben Amorim's side 3-0 and 1-0 in the league, while defeating them 4-3 in the EFL Cup quarter-finals this season.
Meanwhile, Manchester United are 16th in the Premier League table with just 39 points from 37 games. However, they are unbeaten in the Europa League in the ongoing 2024-25 campaign.
Gary Lineker offers prediction for Tottenham Hotspur-Manchester United clash in UEFA Europa League
Speaking recently on The Rest is Football podcast, England legend Gary Lineker backed Tottenham Hotspur to lift their third UEFA Europa League trophy. He said (h/t Metro):
"Talk about a huge game for both clubs. The winner gets Champions League and a trophy and the loser gets nothing. United seem to win trophies even when they're not very good. They've done that over the last few years, whether they can sustain it, I don't know."
Lineker, who played for Spurs between 1989 and 1992, concluded:
"I think it's really tight, it could be anything, but I'm going to go for Spurs. We've seen a lot of teams that haven't won for ages win stuff this season so maybe that will work on their favour. But it could easily go to extra-time."
Spurs will be without the likes of Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, and Lucas Bergvall owing to respective injuries in the Europa League final.
Manchester United, on the other hand, will miss Lisandro Martinez, Diogo Dalot, Joshua Zirkzee, and Leny Yoro in their upcoming encounter.
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Debkalpa Banerjee
Debkalpa is a journalist who covers European football at Sportskeeda. He is a PGD holder from the Asian College of Journalism, has interviewed Emile Heskey and Jason McAteer, ideated a six-part IE feature series titled 'India's New Hopes', and tried to shine a light on mental health in football involving a Bengaluru FC initiative. He has strong journalism skills along with a good understanding of SEO. In his spare time, he stays up all night following Liverpool FC.
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Edited by Debkalpa Banerjee