‘’I want to beat Man United:’’ Robert Vilahamn hungry for victory ahead of Spurs’ encounter against flying Manchester United

Tottenham Hotspur Women look to recover from last week’s disappointing stoppage-time defeat to Liverpool as they head up to Leigh Sports Village to face Manchester United on Sunday. Spurs suffered their first loss of the season after a controversial penalty allowed Marie Höbinger to convert in the dying moments, securing all three points for the Reds.  

Robert Vilahamn is looking to avenge last season’s FA Cup final defeat, as Marc Skinner’s in-form side targets their third consecutive win of the campaign in what promises to be a thrilling and competitive affair.  

Team mentality 

So far this season Tottenham have had a knack for scoring late goals. Despite ultimately losing to Liverpool last week, late goals from Jessica Naz and Bethany England secured a win against Charlton and a draw with Aston Villa this season. 

Vilahamn emphasised the team’s strong mentality when it comes to scoring late goals and said, “It’s part of the journey where we want to make sure we control our performances by actually staying present and focusing on the game plan. I think the characters in the team are really good to try to do that.” 

However, he suggested that in an ideal world, he would not like this to always be the case going forward and said, “Obviously we don’t want to start bad but some games live their own lives, and we need to find ways. I think the players are really keen to keep working hard right until the final whistle.” 

Familiar faces 

Grace Clinton, who had a superb season on loan at Spurs last season with eight goal contributions in 20 games, will face her former side but this time for the Red Devils. Having started this season impressively, winning September’s Player of the Month, Vilahamn was quick to praise his former player, “As a person and a player she’s amazing and I think she’s taken the last season into this season and performed very well for them.” 

Given their understanding of her playing style, Vilahalmn hopes she doesn’t come back to haunt her former side despite her explosive start to life in Manchester. “We’re going to have a strategy and we also know her well, so we also know perhaps how to try to stop her,” said Vilahalmn. 

The opponent 

 “Obviously, they have started very well with two clean sheets and two wins,” Vilahamn responds when questioned about how his side will create opportunities against a solid opponent. “We have scored eight goals in the first three games. We have good attacking patterns [and] some really quick players that can be useful on this game as well [on the counterattack]. We scored two goals last season there. So we have a good plan.”   

The Swede anticipates a ‘’fun’’ game with a lively atmosphere, fuelled by the cup final defeat, and the prospect of playing against Clinton. While complimenting his own supporters, he also acknowledges United’s fanbase: “They are loud. Even though you should never like the opponent’s fans, I like the atmosphere that creates, [and] we have our fans and an opponent where we actually compete against, and they have Grace. I’m just looking forward to this game so much because I want to beat Man United.”