The Tottenham boss insists his side have shown up well in games against the so-called big teams this season.
And he reckons past results won’t dictate how his side do here and moving forward.
He said: "I think it is important if you want to be successful, you need to be able to perform in those big games, particularly away from home.
"I'm not a great one at looking at the historical references to these things, I wasn't there so I don't know whether there was something endemic in the club that didn't allow that. I just tackle from when I get into a club.
"We went to Arsenal, City (and drew), (beat) Liverpool here, we've done OK in those games. Not just results but performance-wise, I don't think we've walked away from any of those games and thought there was a massive gap between us and them.”
This was the Premier League table - well, the top half anyway - waking up this morning.
With a split across this weekend and next with the fixtures, there's a real chance for United and Spurs to put the pressure on those teams ahead of them.
United could go seventh today - Spurs could climb into the top four.
The United boss was fully complimentary of his opposite number in the dugout today.
He said: "They’re definitely different, so I think they complement the way they played, he changed the environment there, they're really proactive, very enjoyable to watch them with a lot of dynamics, very proactive, they combine it with good results.
"But also when we played them over there and I think that's what we can take belief out of that. In the first 35 minutes we dominated them.
"We should have gone in the lead but we didn't so we have to make our own luck and take control of the game and finish the chances.”
Speaking of those absentees and the current issues, both managers are set to welcome back key players in the coming weeks.
It doesn’t help that the Asian Cup and AFCON have already disrupted their usual line-ups.
United are set to be without Amrabat, Mount, Maguire, Lindelof, Malacia and Martial.
But good news was offered at the pre-match press conferences when Ten Hag revealed Eriksen and Antony would be involved, while Shaw, Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez had also resumed training this week.
For Spurs, their injury list is well-documented, with Son, Bissouma and Sarr away on international duty, too.
