LONDON — Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou said he could sympathize with Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim's injury problems after beating the Red Devils 1-0 on Sunday.

In a clash between two sides that have drastically underachieved this season, James Maddison's goal was enough to take Spurs above United in the Premier League to 12th place.

Amorim's men sink to 15th and there is little cause for optimism for the Portuguese, after Amad Diallo and Lisandro Martinez were ruled out until the end of the season.

United was also missing Manuel Ugarte, Christian Eriksen, Kobbie Mainoo and Luke Shaw for the visit to north London, leaving Amorim to put eight teenagers on his nine-man bench.

Postecoglou's second season at Tottenham has been ravaged by injuries. Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Dominic Solanke were again absent, but the return of Maddison and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario helped secure a first home league win since November.

"I could see today Ruben had to put a team together, players out of position, kids on the bench," said Postecoglou.

"Welcome to my world, and that's for one game. Now do that for two months, for any club."

Major injuries have been a theme of the Premier League season.

Defending champion Manchester City has declined rapidly without Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, while Arsenal must mount a title challenge without any recognized strikers.

Postecoglou has faced criticism that his training methods and intense playing style have contributed to Spurs' severe injury crisis.

But, the Australian believes more sides will suffer a similar fate as fixture congestion piles an extra load onto fatigued bodies.

"We're not going to be the only ones. I've foreshadowed this for a while," added Postecoglou.

"There will be a few that come to my world in the next period, and people will see that is not just a reflection of the people involved, but the circumstances we've been dealt."

Amorim has won just four of 14 Premier League games since taking charge in November.

Not for the first time, he was let down by his side's finishing, as Alejandro Garnacho and Joshua Zirkzee wasted glorious chances to equalize after Maddison's 13th minute winner.

United's return of 28 goals in 25 games is the fifth worst in the Premier League.

"We had a lot of chances, but in the end they scored one and we didn't. That was the big difference in the game," said Amorim.

United's Matthijs de Ligt said his side has to have "more hunger" to score, but thinks confidence is also an issue.

"I think the urgency, the hunger to score, that is something that may be lacking," posited the Netherlands defender.

"That's not only on the attackers, it's also on the midfield and the defenders. It's a team thing and we definitely need to improve.

"I think you can say confidence has taken a real hit, especially in the Premier League.

"If you lose the confidence you lose the game."

AFP