Manchester United substitute Anthony Martial strikes late to down Harry Kane-less Tottenham

That is all for this particular blog, but be sure to stay with IBTimes UK for a five-strong slate of 15.00 BST kick-offs including Arsenal vs Swansea and Liverpool vs Huddersfield as well as that aforementioned clash between West Brom and City.

We will also have live coverage of the teatime contest between Bournemouth and Chelsea a little later on.

Goodbye for now.

So Martial's late intervention is enough for United to claim all three points. A fifth successive home win without conceding means they stay second and trim the gap to Manchester City to just two points before the leaders face West Brom this afternoon.

Mourinho's men host Benfica in the Champions League on Tuesday before travelling to Chelsea in their last fixture before the next international break.

Spurs struggle to prove themselves capable of firing without Kane and will hope to welcome back their talisman for the visit of Real Madrid on Wednesday. Next up in the top-flight is a home London derby against struggling Crystal Palace.

Full-time

Manchester United 1-0 Tottenham

Mourinho moves to run down the clock by making his final sub. Young makes way for Matteo Darmian.

Three minutes of added time for Tottenham to find an equaliser.

Lingard wastes the chance to put this game beyond reach as he fires over on the break under pressure from Eriksen.

Spurs had overloaded the United box from a free-kick.

Substitute Martial may have just won this game for United with only nine minutes remaining.

It's route one stuff from United with Lukaku gaining separation from Alderweireld and flicking on De Gea's long free-kick.

Martial drifts in behind Vertonghen and Dier and collects the ball before slotting low beyond Lloris.

Simple.

Goal: Manchester United 1-0 Tottenham (Anthony Martial)

Alli has the ball in the net, but Aurier had long since been flagged offside.

Now Lukaku goes agonisingly close after crashing a firm header against the base of the post. He towered above Alderweireld to connect with Lingard's cross.

Chance!

Eriksen picks out Alli with a glorious lofted pass, but the England midfielder just allows the ball to roll over the top of his boot and a golden opportunity goes begging.

More disappointing lack of composure from Eriksen as he botches a second shooting attempt after being found in plenty of space by Dembele.

Lukaku drives at Belgian teammate Vertonghen and fires in a shot from a difficult angle that is tipped away by Lloris.

Valencia gets caught in a Dembele-Davies sandwich and hits the turf looking for a penalty. Instead, he receives a yellow card for his troubles.

Martial replaces Rashford and looks to make an immediate impact with an attempt at the acrobatic which is not executed particularly well.

Herrera and Dembele go nose-to-nose after a well-timed challenge from the latter, who feels his opponent went down too easily.

Rashford then puts too much power on a lofted pass towards Lukaku.

Mourinho's first change sees Lingard replace Mkhitaryan.

A United corner falls to Valencia 20 yards out and the versatile Ecuadorian unleashes a venomous half-volley over the crossbar.

There would have been no stopping that.

A change in the final third for Spurs as Son makes way for a more conventional target man in Llorente.

The injury-plagued Mousa Dembele also comes on to make his first league appearance since early September. Sissoko is the man to go off.

There are some intriguing battles going on in the wet conditions as Dier slides in on Rashford and concedes the corner.

Pochettino looks to be preparing a couple of substitutes as we approach the hour mark.

Suddenly United lay siege to the Tottenham penalty area.

Davies come to Lloris' rescue as he crucially clears away from Rashford after his captain had spilled a shot from Mkhitaryan, who beat Harry Winks with a fine piece of skill.

Mkhitaryan's dangerous low delivery across the six-yard box is then deflected to safety and Lukaku sees a powerful shot blocked.

Finally some drama.

Eriksen fails to test De Gea with a disappointing strike that drifts well wide.

Young goes speeding down the left flank and fizzes in a low cross that is too far ahead of Rashford.

Herrera clutches his face in pain after being inadvertently caught by a loose arm from Alli.

The Spaniard quickly recovers.

Not a good start as Mkhitaryan blasts a free-kick out of play on the near side. Lukaku does not look best pleased with that effort.

Rashford gets the second half underway. The home supporters will be expecting to see far more from United here.

Goalless at the break after a scrappy first half completely devoid of quality. Spurs endured a nervy opening 10 minutes but soon settled down as United failed to take advantage.

The game began to take on a rather frantic pace as one or two hefty challenges flew in, but overall it's been a real damp squib thus far.

Half-time

Manchester United 0-0 Tottenham

Rashford has the chance to send a late free-kick into the box but his delivery is poor. That should do it for this opening 45 minutes.

One minute of added time will be played at the end of this first half.

De Gea gratefully holds after Dier hooks Eriksen's latest corner goal-bound.

Lloris bravely dives at Rashford's feet as the game begins to take on a frenetic pace as we edge towards the interval.

Referee Moss somehow misses a wild challenge from Antonio Valencia on Alli. That should have been a card.

Bailly concedes a corner in a one-on-one with Vertonghen and Alli's thumping header is blocked before it can trouble De Gea.

Mkhitaryan attempts to counter but fails to win a free-kick from Davies. Sissoko then releases Alli, who is supported by Son but passes straight to De Gea under pressure from Bailly.

Good defending from Vertonghen and Alderweireld to keep Lukaku at bay.

Sissoko then brings down Herrera as a rather tepid affair begins to simmer.

Young is incensed after being caught by a flailing arm from Aurier. He squares up to Alli and both players are warned by the referee.

A very nervy moment for United after De Gea and Jones collide, leading to the former dropping a left-wing cross from Davies.

Alli tees up Sissoko for an awful effort that flies wide.

Just before that, Dier had raced forward and played a good one-two with Alli before attempting to play in Son, missing a good chance to release Sissoko.

Lloris slices a kick straight into touch. Chances at an absolute premium during the opening 25 minutes at Old Trafford.

Toby Alderweireld is the latest Spurs player to let fly from range. His shot crashes into the side netting.

Sissoko finds himself in oceans of space in the middle of the pitch. With Jones slow to close the angle, he produces a tame long-range shot that is easily dealt with by David De Gea.

The quality of passing from both teams thus far has been suspect to say the least. Rashford flicks the ball inside Dier before casually gifting possession straight to Christian Eriksen, whose options on the counter are limited.

Tottenham are finally beginning to get a foothold in this game after 15 minutes. Son races past Herrera and Davies' deep cross for Aurier is dealt with by a combination of Young and Chris Smalling.

Sissoko fouls Mkhitaryan and Rashford, who turns 20 on Tuesday, tests Lloris with a dipping free-kick from a long way out.

The Spurs captain palms the ball wide and the subsequent corner is cleared.

Dier makes a crucial sliding challenge on Rashford after a poor clearance from Lloris but is unable to hook the ball clear.

Rashford keeps the attack alive and finds Lukaku, whose back-post cross towards Mkhitaryan is overhit and goes out for a throw-in on the far side.

A rough opening from Spurs, who have given the ball away several times already. United are pressing them hard.

Young humiliates Serge Aurier with a lovely nutmeg, but his cross fails to reach Herrera or Rashford.

Spurs attempts to launch a quick counter-attack are thwarted by Young, who seems to have shaken off that early complaint.

It's been a confident start from United in front of their own fans. Lukaku escapes down the left channel and takes on Dier before seeing his low pass towards Rashford smothered by Hugo Lloris.

That would have been a tap-in at the back post.

United attack from the off, although Ashley Young appears to have picked up an early knock.

Rashford and Romelu Lukaku seem to be playing up front together, supported by Mkhitaryan.

As for Spurs, it's a back three with Dier in place of Sanchez.

Perfectly observed.

Referee Jon Moss now gets this eagerly anticipated fixture underway. Both sides are decked out in their familiar home strips, with the hosts kicking from left to right as we look at it in this first half.

This is United's last home game before Remembrance Sunday, so we will now observe a minute's silence.

Second-place United currently sit above Tottenham on goal difference only, with both sides trailing free-scoring leaders Manchester City by five points ahead of kick-off.

Pep Guardiola's men travel to West Brom later today as they seek to secure an eighth straight win and equal the points record after 10 matches of a Premier League season (28).

Just five minutes remaining until kick-off in the first Premier League encounter of the weekend.

United have also won all of their last three home matches against Tottenham without conceding...

Mourinho in typically combative form in his pre-match interview with Sky Sports, refusing to confirm if he is playing three at the back and positioning United as underdogs by claiming that his side are going up arguably the best team in the Premier League.

He also repeated the line about his absent crop when asked how the dynamic changes by facing a Tottenham team without Kane.

Serious doubts continue to surround Shaw's future at United, with the left-back having made just two appearances so far this term after injury.

Extracts from that aforementioned Pochettino book showed the player lavishing praise on his former Southampton head coach, stating that it was only ever "up, up, up" during their time on the south coast and expressing hope that he could play for him again one day in the future.

Pochettino again did not want to talk about that topic at any great length on Friday, while Mourinho appeared to appreciate Shaw's honesty and insisted that he still has a future at Old Trafford.

"He has a future here, I think he has, but the situation is not easy. He comes from injury after injury after injury, he needs two, three, four, five, six matches in a row to play, to make mistakes, to get condition, to get match fitness and I cannot give him that in this moment.

"If he was a central midfield player yes, because we have only two but at left-back we have so many options that the situation is not easy. He's in the squad, he works maybe the opportunity comes."

Other interesting subplots that surfaced during the build-up to this game included Dier and Luke Shaw.

United chased the former during the summer transfer window before signing Chelsea's Nemanja Matic and Mourinho insists he ended up with his number one target.

"I have the player that I want to have. Probably I have the player I didn't think it was possible to have but we got the player I really wanted."

Pochettino discusses the chat Mourinho instigated with Dier after Tottenham's 1-0 defeat to United in December 2016 in his book 'Brave New World', explaining that he later sat down and told the player that he could not leave after only signing a new lucrative five-year contract that summer.

The Spurs boss was keen to play down that storyline yesterday, saying it was all in the past when asked if Dier had lost focus as a result of the long-running interest.

Here was Pochettino's full answer when asked at his pre-match press conference if this game presented Tottenham with a real chance to prove once and for all that they are no one-man team...

No we don't need to prove ourselves that we're Tottenham. Maybe for many people they expect that but for us, no. Last season, in the period when he was injured, you can see the stats, the games we played. Win or lose with Harry and win or lose without Harry.

Of course I'm not happy, I'm disappointed because Harry is our main striker and one of the best strikers in the world. You're always going to miss your best striker, no? I'm not silly or stupid. That is football. Like I always say to you, they are not a machine and the players always want to play. But if the manager rests some players, the first to create the problem is you to translate to the fans, and the fans complain 'why they not playing'?

And the players are saying 'why I'm not playing gaffer because I want to score'? but they are not a machine.

And then you have to learn suffering, and now he is suffering because I read all the information available to me, I remember in the last few weeks because Jesus tell me, a few games ago, ten minutes before the end. It was Huddersfield ten minutes before the end, you must rest because you have international duty two games.

And then 'gaffer, why the last ten minutes I not play? Because hat-trick, I compete with Lukaku, with Aguero...'

That is to add more pressure to the player. It's difficult, that is in [his new] book. It explains how difficult our job is. You can't make everyone happy, but when the thing happens who suffers? The player? And who suffers? The team. And then who suffers? Us. We are going to miss one of our best players. That is our job, I'm not complaining about that.

Tottenham also show three alterations from the XI that started the trouncing of Liverpool last Sunday.

Ben Davies, Eric Dier and Moussa Sissoko replace Kieran Trippier, Davinson Sanchez and Kane.

Llorente remains on the bench despite the latter's absence, with Heung-Min Son leading the line instead.

Is that Dier replacing Sanchez in the usual back five/three or has Pochettino opted for a switch to a 4-2-3-1 system, as IBTimes UK vaguely speculated that he might?

Mourinho makes three changes to the side that suffered a first defeat to Huddersfield in 65 years. Bailly, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Rashford all come in as Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial drop to the bench.

Jones starts as expected, with United seemingly switching to a back three. Victor Lindelof fails to make the squad after his wretched outing in West Yorkshire.

Official team news on the way in just a couple of minutes. Stay tuned.

It looks like it's shaping up to be something of a gloomy day at the Theatre of Dreams. Let's hope this fixture can compensate by shining a little brighter than it has done on this ground over recent years.

However, it is worth noting that Tottenham won five and drew three of their eight league matches without Kane last season as he dealt with two ankle ligament injuries.

They also look better equipped to cope with his absence now.

There were also some minor concerns over Ander Herrera (ankle) and Marcus Rashford (hamstring tightness) after the United pair were substituted at the same time at Swansea.

However, they have trained fully since and are expected to be available as normal today.

Spurs did not pick up any fresh injuries during a shocking home cup defeat to London rivals West Ham in which they inexplicably tossed away a comfortable two-goal lead.

However, Victor Wanyama has visited a specialist for advice on a concerning knee problem that has kept him in the treatment room since the last-gasp defeat to Chelsea in August.

Pochettino was initially hopeful that long-term absentee Erik Lamela could make the bench against West Ham exactly a year to the day since his last appearance for the Lilywhites, although that never happened and the long wait for his first-team return continues.

It now seems like more of a mental hurdle that the 25-year-old has to overcome.

Quizzed about his fellow Argentine again yesterday, the manager said: "Like I told you before, we are waiting for him to say, 'gaffer, [assistant manager] Jesus [Perez], doctor, I am ready to compete'.

"For us, it's so close, so close. We are waiting. Maybe he'll surprise us today or next week. I feel it's so close. He just needs that click in his mind to say 'yes, I feel ready for the competition'."

The ever-prickly Mourinho's rather blunt response to the Kane news tells you which players United are still without:

We have no Zlatan Ibrahimovic, no Paul Pogba, no Marouane Fellaini, no Marcos Rojo, no Michael Carrick, so don't speak to me about Harry Kane.

However, Phil Jones is fit after being forced off with a thigh injury at Huddersfield and remaining as an unused substitute during the midweek Carabao Cup fourth round win over Swansea.

Fellow central defender Eric Bailly could make his first United appearance for a month after recovering from a groin strain picked up on international duty.

"We don't need to prove ourselves that we're Tottenham"

Mauricio Pochettino is confident that Spurs can once again still thrive without the services of Premier League leading scorer Harry Kane, who has been ruled out of today's second vs third clash against Manchester United and could be a doubt for the midweek visit of Real Madrid to Wembley Stadium.

The prospective England captain was seen clutching the back of his leg before being substituted in Sunday's 4-1 demolition of Liverpool and it has since been confirmed that he is suffering with a minor strain to his left hamstring.

Jose Mourinho has once again been in no mood to discuss his rivals' injury woes, with the Red Devils, surprisingly toppled by newly-promoted Huddersfield Town last weekend, still being plagued by fitness issues of their own.

However, although Fernando Llorente is an obvious upgrade on Vincent Janssen, there can be no doubting that Kane's absence is a gargantuan blow for Tottenham as they seek to improve their diabolical record at Old Trafford and record successive league wins over United for the first time since 1990.

Stay with IBTimes UK for all the live build-up and team news for one of the most eagerly anticipated matches of the season so far. We will also have minute-by-minute updates for you after kick-off at 12.30 BST.