Rio Ferdinand has serious doubts that Manchester United will beat Tottenham in the Europa League final, saying his former club are physically inferior to other Premier League sides.
The fascinating clash in Bilbao on Wednesday night will see one of the sides lift the trophy and book themselves a place in next season’s Champions League.
It will be a stunning prize for one of two teams that have been woeful in the Premier League this season, with United 16th and Spurs one place below them.
Ferdinand feels one of the Red Devils’ big problems this season has been their physical inferiority, which is something they will struggle with again as they take on Premier League opposition in Europe.
‘The worrying thing for me from a Man United perspective is that physically we can’t keep up with any team in the Premier League,’ Ferdinand told talkSPORT.
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‘If they go man-to-man and go toe-to-toe with us, we’re at a disadvantage because our profile of our players at Man United are not players that can run as hard and as fast, and as long, and they’re not as powerful as other teams.
‘That’s a big thing in the Premier League. In the Europa, we’re overpowering every team.
‘There’s only one team I’ve watched us play against in the Europa League that we struggled against and thought, “Ooh, that was a bit too close for comfort.” Rangers, who are more akin to a Premier League side, physically.
‘So that’s the concern for me in the final playing against a Premier League team, who have beaten us three times, that physically can, minimum, match us.’
The former England defender is not quite tipping a Manchester United defeat in Bilbao, but cannot be anything like confident that Ruben Amorim’s side will lift the trophy.
‘I have to be honest, I can’t call a Man United result. They’re so inconsistent, or they have consistently been bad in the Premier League,’ he told Optus Sport.
‘But the fact that they are playing against Spurs, another consistently bad team in the Premier League. But they have players who can win a match. It makes it such a hard game to call.’
Ferdinand has gone as far as saying only a ‘lunatic’ would be surprised if Spurs picked up a win in Spain, having won their last three meetings with United.
‘I don’t think the fans can be too surprised. They beat us three times already this season, so it’s not going to be a surprise if they beat us a fourth time,’ said Ferdinand.
‘I think it’s only going to be stupid people that are going, “Oh my god, I can’t believe this.”
‘We’re 16th because we’ve lost a lot of games. 18 Premier League games we’ve lost this season. Anyone who’s surprised if we don’t win this game against Spurs is a lunatic, in my eyes.’