Moussa Dembele Exudes Confidence Ahead of Manchester United Clash

Moussa Dembele has issued a rallying cry to his teammates telling them that they can surprise everyone by taking all three points against Manchester United in the Premier League on New Year's Day.

Tottenham Hotspur travel to Old Trafford to take on the Red Devils in the league on the first day of 2014, exactly a month after the league clash between the two sides ended in a 2-2 at White Hart Lane.

Spurs are confident ahead of their upcoming fixture having won their last game by three goals at home against Stoke City. But the 26-year-old believes that United too will be keen to start 2014 with a win.

"We have a different team to last year, so it's difficult to think about that game. They will be motivated against us, but we're not scared to play there and surprise everyone," Dembele elucidated.

Spurs won this fixture last season 3-2 under former manager Andre Villas-Boas and the midfielder insists that his team still possesses the ability and quality to beat the English champions in their own backyard, just like they did last season.

"My memories of Old Trafford are quite good. With Fulham we played well and with Tottenham we won last year, so I'm not scared to go there. I have a lot of respect for them but we can do something there," the Belgian explained.

"They are a top team. We have a lot of respect for them but not too much. We are a good team and we have to play our own game, and we can do something," he added.

Spurs managed to keep their first clean sheet in the league against Stoke since the first week of November and will be looking to build on that under newly appointed manager, Tim Sherwood.

The north London club had shipped only five goals from the start of the season in August till October in the league. But in their last nine league matches, they have conceded a staggering 19 goals, including the humiliating defeats suffered at the hands of Manchester City (6-0) and Liverpool (5-0).

Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris expressed his happiness on keeping the shutout while stating that it will only help improve his team's quest to achieve a top-four finish this season.

"That's our eighth clean sheet this season in the Premier League. It's a good average so now we need to keep going, especially after the last month with a lot of goals conceded. It was important to stop that and now we can look forward," Lloris told Spurs's official website.