Jose Mourinho has revealed that Manchester United's quick counter-attacking options played a role in his decision to select Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez at centre-back.
The Tottenham boss opted to leave Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld on the bench for their Premier League return against the Red Devils, with Dier switching from midfield to defence.
It was one of several surprising changes from Mourinho, with Eric Lamela also included in the team alongside Steven Bergwijn, Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane.
Moussa Sissoko and Harry Winks deputise in midfield, with Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele making the bench, whilst Lucas Moura misses out through injury.
However, when quizzed on his decision to opt for Dier over Alderweireld or Vertonghen, Mourinho explained his concern about Manchester United's pace on the counter-attack, with Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Daniel James all in the starting XI.
“We have options," Mourinho told Sky Sports ahead of kick-off.
"We try to analyse the moment of the players and the moment depends a lot on their body and their reactions to these long, long, long periods.
"We go with Davinson and Dier. United is a very powerful team in counter-attack with very fast players in attack and we choose the two, in our view, who can deal better with it."
