Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo out? The shock Tottenham and Manchester United teams we could see as talkSPORT told stars could be dropped

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Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United should be about a battle between Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Elite goalscrorers at the top of their game, each trying to fire their team to glory with a variety of netbusters.

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Ronaldo has cut a frustrated figure in recent weeks

The reality is, they’re both possibly at the root of their teams problems right now.

Kane has just one Premier League goal this campaign and his roaming role in north London appears at odds with Nuno Espirito Santo’s will to counter attack.

And, as Manchester United struggle, Ronaldo’s style of play is also not helping Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tactics at Old Trafford.

He’s unhelpful defensively and it’s possible, despite his habit of scoring clutch goals, they play better without him.

Kane has looked a shadow of himself in recent weeks

Earlier this campaign, before Spurs’ troubles really kicked in, their former midfielder Jamie O’Hara admited their best displays came without their superstar striker.

He said in late September: “It’s tough one for me as Harry Kane is Mr Tottenham, in my opinion, but I look at his body language and look at the way he’s playing and he’s not playing very well.

“I kind of enjoyed Spurs at the beginning of the season when he didn’t play. I know that sounds bad because he is a great player and he is someone who you need in your team, but he’s come back into the team and we can’t win.

“When it was [Steven] Bergwijn, [Lucas] Moura and [Heung-Min] Son up front, we sat in, we were composed, we soaked up the pressure and tried to hit teams on the counter attack.

“Harry Kane has come back and he’s trying to do everything. For some parts of the game he’s playing as a holding midfielder!

Tottenham stunned Manchester City in their Premier League opener when Kane didn’t play

“They are doing too much, we need you to play up front and where things can happen.

“I feel like he’s slowing things down for us a little bit at the minute.

”You can’t criticise him for what he is and what he’s done for the football club, but at the moment he’s not playing very well for us.”

In their Carabao Cup win over Burnley, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was forced to shout out Kane to press Ben Mee in the closing stages, while he shanked two terrible first-half efforts in another clumsy display.

So, after just one goal in eight games, it’s perhaps not so farfetched that Nuno Espirito Santo might drop him.

How Tottenham could line up without Kane:

Is this how Spurs could look against Manchester United?

Over at Old Trafford, Ronaldo’s position is also under threat, according to another former Premier League star.

“I think for Ole, he’s got some big decisions to make,” Darren Bent explained this week.

“If he wants to play this whole pressing game then he might have to bite it a little bit and go ‘you know what, Ronaldo has been good but [Edinson] Cavani in terms of energy, pressing, working hard from the front, is a far better option than Ronaldo, because whenever Cavani comes on, he runs around, he works.

Cavani’s relentless movement could see him picked ahead of Ronaldo

“Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, if he wants to survive much longer in this role he’ll have to start making some big decisions and that includes leaving big players out.”

Cavani’s desire would certainly ensure the Red Devils unsettle Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

It does also then give Solskjaer an astonishing weapon off the bench, and you wouldn’t bet against the Portuguese ace still managing to punish Tottenham.

How Manchester United could line up without Ronaldo: