The new Premier League season kicks off at White Hart Lane on Saturday afternoon as Champions League debutants Spurs take on a Man City side whose minimum requirement this term must be a top four finish.
At the time of writing, Harry Redknapp has so far defied his ‘wheeler-dealer’ reputation with no significant signings coming into the club over the close season, and it remains to be seen whether he strengthens his squad in time for this one.
A fairly indifferent set of pre-season results could tempt ‘Arry into splashing out, with Craig Bellamy and Scott Parker two of the players strongly linked with the north London club. A 1-4 hammering by Villareal at the Lane a couple of weeks go will certainly have had Tottenham fans perusing the gossip columns with a certain desperation.
Nevertheless, there should be a fine atmosphere at one of the few remaining top-flight grounds capable of providing such a thing, and with a settled side playing at home after a superb campaign last time out, it’s easy to make a case for backing Spurs at 11/8 here.
By contrast, City have again spent wildly this summer with David Silva, Yaya Toure, Aleksandar Kolarov and Jerome Boateng costing £79m between them, and while they should certainly be up there come May, they’re bound to take time to get it right and don’t appeal at 15/8 to win this one. For those who really want to get with Mancini’s boys here, the 11/10 available for them on the Draw No Bet market looks like the way to go.
Much like Spurs, it’s not been a great summer for City results-wise, and heavy defeats at Sporting, Inter Milan and Dortmund suggest that Mancini and his staff still have plenty of work to do on a defence that conceded more than any other top 7 side last term.
They do of course have a frightening amount of firepower at the other end, with last season’s leading scorer Carlos Tevez a 6/1 chance for the first goal and 13/8 to hit the net at any time, while Emmanuel Adebayor is exactly the same price on both markets.
James Milner’s move may not have officially gone through yet, but the Blue Square traders have wasted no time in pricing him up for this one – he’s 10/1 for the first goal on his debut and a 3/1 shot to score at any time.
For Spurs, it’s the prolific Jermain Defoe who heads the first goalscorer market at 5/1, while the 11/8 about him to score at any time looks very good after his 24 goals last term. Roman Pavlyuchenko is another player who could be worth backing after a fine second half to last season saw him revive his Spurs career – the Russian is 13/8 to find the net in this one.
This game should certainly provide goals given the amount of attacking talent on the pitch, allied with the fact that neither defence is exactly water-tight. Over 2.5 goals looks like a superb punt at 10/11, while Goal Crazy – both teams to score – also looks like a very good thing at 3/4.
For a Correct Score bet, the 25/1 about Tottenham to win 3-1 looks very attractive, while 2-1 also appeals at 9/1, For those who are looking for the big win to start the season in style, Tevez to score first and Spurs to win 3-1 pays an almighty 250/1 and might just be worth a quid or two.
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