Why Roberto De Zerbi exposes himself to Tottenham sack with Mateus Fernandes call vs Man United
Roberto De Zerbi is on thin ice as Tottenham Hotspur face Manchester United on Saturday.
The North London outfit will travel to Old Trafford on 10 October for their first game since the lengthy international break.
It can be argued that the break has eased some pressure on the Italian manager, with noise around his future not part of the mainstream agenda in recent weeks.
But De Zerbi needs to make changes sooner rather than later, starting with Mateus Fernandes, if he wants to keep his job at Spurs.
Fans in N17 haven't forgotten that their team are sitting bottom of the Premier League table after failing to win any of their opening five matches.
Another defeat would be disastrous for the former Brighton and Hove Albion boss, who can't trust the Portuguese midfielder against the Red Devils.
Why Mateus Fernandes can't start for Tottenham at Old Trafford
Fernandes' start at Tottenham has been poor and the midfielder has yet to live up to his £85million price tag.
The 22-year-old started against Aston Villa in the 3-2 home defeat, with De Zerbi hooking him off at the break.
Speaking after the game, the Italian manager said: "I have big confidence in Mateus, but I didn't like the performance of Mateus today."
Fernandes has started three of the five Premier League games this season, recording an xG of 0.19 and an xA of 0.28, according to Sofascore, highlighting his limited impact in the final third.
The midfielder is highly involved in games, averaging 43.2 touches per game, but hasn't done much with the ball.
When the former West Ham United ace has had possession, he has completed just 0.2 dribbles per game with a 50 per cent success rate.
Fernandes has also been defensively weak, winning fewer than half of his duels and making one error that led to a shot.
Who should replace Mateus Fernandes vs Manchester United?
Sandro Tonali hasn't been much better than Fernandes at Tottenham, but there have been glimpses of his partnership with Rodrigo Bentancur working out.
The two midfielders should keep their places for the trip to Old Trafford.
Fernandes hasn't done much to merit a start against Manchester United and De Zerbi should instead rely on Conor Gallagher as his engine in the number 10 role.
The former Chelsea ace's running power and tenacity can surely help in an attacking sense as well as defensively, to possibly shut down Bruno Fernandes.
De Zerbi risks getting sacked if he relies on the former West Ham youngster to make a difference in Manchester.