Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants Manchester United to limit Harry Kane’s opportunities in front of goal at Wembley this weekend as he knows all about the Tottenham striker’s prowess.
Kane has found the net in each of his last six matches while his latest strike – a penalty in the midweek Carabao Cup semi-final first leg win over Chelsea – moved him to fourth on the list of Spurs’ top goalscorers of all time.
The England forward has a modest record against United, with only two goals in 10 fixtures, though he clearly has a fan in Solskjaer, who is under no illusion as to how difficult it will be to frustrate the 25-year-old.
But the Norwegian, United’s interim manager until the end of the season, is also content with his options going forward ahead of his side’s trip to face Mauricio Pochettino’s men in the Premier League on Sunday.
Solskjaer said: “He is not bad, is he? He is a fantastic goalscorer and one of the best in the world but I have got a couple that I am happy to work with.
“He is a top, top professional. I’m sure whoever plays and trains with him can talk more about him but, from the outside, he is a fantastic finisher.
“He never misses chances so let’s make sure he doesn’t get any against us.”
Solskjaer has joined Sir Matt Busby in starting his United tenure with five successive wins although the consensus is the fixture at third-placed Tottenham will be the first acid test of his reign.
United have been more free-flowing in attack with Solskjaer at the helm and the former striker signalled his intent to continue in the same vein against their next opponents.
Solskjaer said: “You always adapt to any opposition, they are one of best in the leagues so we have to be aware of their strengths. But I’ve been brought up in a way that we need to attack teams.
“I think that’s our strength as well, going forward and attacking, as a team when you look at us now the way we’ve played.
“We are not going to get as many chances to attack against these as we had before so when we have the ball, we have to be ready to play well with it.
“The last five games haven’t been too bad but there is always things to work on; the relationship between players, the cohesion and the understanding. Hopefully we will see a positive team.”
Paul Pogba is set to give Solskjaer a boost by returning at Tottenham after missing last weekend’s FA Cup third-round win over Reading because of an injury to the back of his right leg.
The World Cup winner belatedly joined the club’s warm weather training camp in Dubai, which Solskjaer claimed was a successful trip on his return to Manchester.
He said: “It was very good. We had four good days of training. I think the boys enjoyed it, we put a few principles down and I know they worked hard and I think they enjoy working hard as well. It looked like it.”