Tottenham vs Manchester United: Key questions Ole Gunnar Solskjaer faces ahead of his biggest Premier League test

Who plays up front?

Remember “why always Lukaku”? Jose Mourinho’s complaints about a lack of quality in attacking positions are now a distant memory after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s goal-happy start to life as Manchester United’s caretaker manager.

Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard formed an exciting and fluid attacking triumvirate in Solskjaer’s first four league games in charge, scoring six goals between them, with Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez making contributions off the substitutes’ bench as they returned to full fitness.

Lukaku is now back in contention and Sanchez, who suffered a slight recurrence of his hamstring injury against Reading on Saturday, has trained this week. Solskjaer therefore has an embarrassment of riches up front and may be forced to disappoint two of his five forwards or move Lingard back into midfield.

However he approaches it, the Norwegian’s selection on Sunday will be our first sign of the current pecking order at Old Trafford.

Will the defensive improvement hold?

Even though United have only kept two clean sheet in their last five, Solskjaer has overseen at improvement at the back as well up front. United have only conceded three goals in those five games and all of them from dead ball situations - with two coming from set-pieces and one from the penalty spot.

When it comes to open play, expected goal numbers suggest that no top-flight team has limited their opponents better than United since Solskjaer’s appointment. It was a point the Norwegian could not help but note in his post-Reading press conference last weekend. “We've not conceded in open play yet in either of the five games, but still we'll have to stop conceding chances.”

How much of this solidity is down to playing four struggling teams in the Premier League and a relegation-threatened Championship side in the FA Cup? The answer is probably ‘a lot’. Still, this defence was hardly solid against weaker opponents before Solskjaer’s arrival and his insistence on a pressing game has helped to cut attacks off at the source.

If United tighten up at set-pieces and shackle Tottenham in open play, their chances of a getting result on Sunday will be helped no end.

Is Solskjaer a top six manager?

It is a question that will not be answered by Sunday’s game alone but it is the one which hangs over it more than any other. In the biggest test of his caretaker spell to date, will Solskjaer secure a result that suggests his United can compete with the best and he could do this job full time?

The Norwegian has preached simplicity since his appointment and has always stressed the importance of United playing on the front foot. “We need to attack teams,” he said previewing this game on Thursday night. “That is our strength: going forward, attacking. We have to.”

It is a refreshing approach when compared to the pragmatism of Mourinho and the complexity of other elite managers. Yet is that enough when playing the elite? Even against the likes of Huddersfield and Newcastle, there have been spells where United appeared vulnerable to counter-attacks and mistakes that better sides would punish.

The honeymoon could therefore end abruptly on Sunday, with Mauricio Pochettino showing why he remains the favourite to replace Jose Mourinho permanently