Posts Tagged ‘White Hart Lane’
Spurs’ Champions League adventure set to begin
For Spurs fans it was hard not to get excited watching the Champions League draw in Monaco. After cracking the top four last season, they faced a difficult night in Switzerland before finally securing their place in Europe’s elite competition with a 4-0 second leg win over Young Boys.
The key now is to not only enjoy the ride, but try and ensure progress. For Spurs to move on as a club they will want to ensure this is not a one off – a lone run in the group stages will pale into insignificance in years to come.
Rafa Benitez’s Inter Milan will provide the glamour tie the fans hoped for - the European champions’ visit to White Hart Lane is a mouth-watering prospect. Spurs can also go into that game with no pressure. Many will make them football betting tips to lose but if they have confidence in their ability they can give the Serie A outfit a good game.
Elsewhere teams from Germany and Holland will provide little mystery, but FC Twente and Werder Bremen are solid representatives from two tough leagues.
But given Twente have lost their title-winning manager Steve McClaren and Bremen have just sold star midfielder Mezut Ozil, Spurs could be primed to take advantage of their opponents bad fortune.
The key could be how Tottenham juggle the demands of the Premier League and their excursions in Europe. Unlike the Europa League this is a competition not to be taken lightly and I’m sure Redknapp will play his strongest team. He will hope his sizeable group of squad players will be able to maintain their good form domestically while his first XI travel across Europe.
The silly mistakes made in Bern will need to be cut out but if Spurs play to their best then they can compete in this group. The Champions League odds suggest they are in with a chance though.
Qualification as group winners maybe asking too much but it is a group that should hold no fears for Tottenham and I can see their Champions League adventure continuing into the new year.
Tags: Bad Fortune, Champions League Draw, Elite Competition, European Champions, Fc Twente, Football Betting Tips, Good Game, Group Stages, Group Winners, Insignificance, Inter Milan, Little Mystery, Redknapp, Silly Mistakes, Sizeable Group, Spurs, Steve Mcclaren, Travel Across Europe, Werder Bremen, White Hart Lane
Will Spurs reach the pot of gold?
After 28 minutes in Switzerland last week Spurs’ Champions League dream looked well and truly shattered.
However, goals from Sebastien Bassong and Roman Pavyluchenko dragged the Londoners back into the game against Young Boys and crucially gave them two away goals heading into this week’s second game.
Part of Spurs’ struggles in the first leg was the awkward plastic pitch in Bern. Their early failure to get to grips with the surface nearly proved fatal to their ambitions of progressing but credit has to go to the players and boss Harry Redknapp for clawing themselves back into contention. The Champions League odds now make them favourites to progress.
The return game back at White Hart Lane should be more straightforward, they are playing on grass for starters. Tough to beat at home, their two strikes away in Switzerland also mean just a 1-0 victory will carry them through, though I’m sure they will be aiming for a much less nerve jangling win that that.
This brings us to the one thing that could scupper their hopes - the pressure. After such a momentous effort to pip Liverpool and Manchester City to fourth place last season their hopes of making the lucrative Champions League now rest on one 90 minute match. The football betting suggests they’ll win, but that won’t make it any easier.
The nerves will be evident in the stands, especially if there isn’t an early goal, so the players will have to keep their heads and hold their nerve. If they do that then Tottenham should progress, on paper they have the better players.
But as we know football isn’t played on paper, but as it isn’t played on plastic either I predict the green, green grass of home will help Spurs on their way to the riches of Champions League football.
Tags: Ambitions, Champions League Football, Contention, Green Grass Of Home, Green Green Grass, Green Green Grass Of Home, Harry Redknapp, League Dream, Londoners, Manchester City, Nerves, Pip, Pot Of Gold, Return Game, Sebastien, Second Game, Spurs, Two Strikes, White Hart Lane, Young Boys
Spurs’ need is greater than Man City’s
Results in the Premier League last weekend whittled down the Champions League hopefuls to just two clubs and they now face each other at the City of Manchester Stadium in what is effectively Champions League play-off.
The build up to the game has seen much talk of launch pads to success, and the impact a new side finishing in the top fourth could have on the Premier League.
This has been the case with Manchester City in particular. If they secured fourth they would be able to offer the world’s best players Champions League football as well exorbitant wages.
However, the amount of cash available at City means they will eventually make the top four regardless of what happens this season. Sheikh Mansour has already shown he is prepared to continually throw money at the problem until he achieves his objective. Indeed, if Harry Redknapp is to be believed City don’t hold back when it comes to the transfer market.
So even if City fall at the final hurdle this week, and the football betting odds suggest they will, it will not be a disaster. Roberto Mancini, or whoever is in charge, will have a limitless amount of money at his disposal in order to achieve his objective next season.
Spurs, meanwhile, have a lot more to lose in my opinion. Redknapp has built at talented squad at White Hart Lane and although it was expensively assembled, he knows that every player has their price and already the vultures are circling overhead, ready to pick off the likes of Luka Modric and Gareth Bale.
The last time Spurs finished fifth they were heavily tipped to push on the following year, but made a terrible start to the following season and were bottom of the league by the time the clocks went back. They can’t afford for that to happen again. Failing to make fourth now could see the team break up. City, on the other hand, would spend big to ensure they stay in the top four, meaning the door to the will be shut again, leaving Spurs back among the likes of Aston Villa and Everton, banging their heads on that glass ceiling.
Meanwhile, the World Cup 2010 odds still make England third favourites as the big kick-off looms.
Tags: Amount Of Money, Aston Villa, Champions League Football, City Of Manchester, City Of Manchester Stadium, Everto, Football Betting Odds, Harry Redknapp, Hopefuls, Hurdle, Launch Pads, Man City, Manchester City, Mansour, Modric, Roberto Mancini, Talented Squad, Team Break, Terrible Start, Vultures, White Hart Lane
Croatian connection to down Fulham
Tottenham face Fulham for a place in the FA Cup semi-finals on Wednesday, but they will have to do so without goal getters Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko.
Defoe, who has 17 league goals to his name this term, is missing with a hamstring problem, while the in-form Pavlyuchenko is also absent with a hamstring strain. It leaves Harry Redknapp without two of his most potent frontmen and the onus will be on Peter Crouch and Eidur Gudjohnsen to do the business in the quarter-final replay at White Hart Lane.
Gudjohnsen opened the scoring in the weekend victory at Stoke, but the Icelandic wizard is not an out-and-out goalscorer and his link-up play with Spurs’ creative midfield is more than likely to take up the majority of his game against Fulham. Gudjohnsen is only 9/2 to open the scoring and considering the former Chelsea forward’s tendency to drop deep and exchange passes with forward-thinking midfielders, he doesn’t represent any value. A better proposition would be to have a small Football bet interest in Luka Modric (10/1).
The Croatian ace has scored only twice all season - a disappointing return so far for a player of his class - and he will surely add to that tally in the closing months of the season. Modric and Gudjsohnsen are likely to be on the same wavelength and with Modric’s clever runs Gudjohnsen might just provide him with the chance to add to his scoring tally against Fulham. Another player who Fulham will have to keep an eye on will be Niko Kranjcar and he could be another man to side with to open the scoring as 9/1.
Kranjcar, a Croatia team-mate of Modric’s, has scored five times this term and has proved to be a real bargain at just £2million from Portsmouth. Kranjcar, like Modric, is a clever footballer with an eye for goal and his knack of getting in and around the box could pay off.
FA Cup final betting suggests that Fulham will be no pushovers however, as they showed in the original goalless draw, but the odd goal from one of the Croatian pair should just be enough for Spurs to squeeze through.
Tags: Defoe, Eidur, Fa Cup Final, Fa Cup Semi Finals, Football Bet, Footballer, Fulham Tottenham, Goal Getters, Harry Redknapp, Knack, League Goals, Luka, Midfield, Onus, Peter Crouch, Portsmouth Kranjcar, Same Wavelength, Spurs, Team Mate, White Hart Lane
Chelsea shorten for FA Cup glory
Chelsea are the hot 5/4 favourites to retain the FA Cup after being drawn at home again in the quarter-finals. They top the list when it comes to Odds FA Cup experts produce and will take some stopping.
The Blues defeated Cardiff 4-1 at Stamford Bridge in the fifth round and have been rewarded for their efforts with another home tie - against either Manchester City (8/1) or Stoke (25/1) who will replay at The Britannia Stadium.
Chelsea have edged out Watford and Cardiff on home soil and saw off Preston in the fourth round away from the King’s Road, but they will now have to topple Premier League opposition to reach the semi-finals. Carlo Ancelotti’s men still look primed for more cup glory and have shortened up to repeat last year’s heroics with Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United already out of the tournament.
Tottenham are the 11/2 second favourites after battling out a 1-1 draw at Bolton (50/1) and now face a replay at White Hart Lane to determine who will take on Fulham (14/1) at Craven Cottage. FA Cup Match Betting certainly expects Harry Redknapp’s men to progress though.
Financially-stricken Portsmouth (16/1) are well placed to repeat their FA Cup success of 2008 and face Birmingham (11/1) at Fratton Park for a place in the last four.
Pompey will be desperate for cup success in a bid to ease their cash problems on the south coast and they could still become the first team in history to win the prestigious tournament and be relegated in the same season.
Reading (80/1) and West Brom (33/1) face a replay at The Hawthorns to determine who will take on Aston Villa or Crystal Palace (66/1), who will also replay at Villa Park. Villa are 6/1 third favourites to get their hands on the trophy they last won in 1957.
Tags: Ascii, Aston Villa, Britannia Stadium, Cambria, Carlo Ancelotti, Craven Cottage, Crystal Palace, Cup Glory, Cup Success, Div, Font Definitions, Font Format, Harry Redknapp, Hawthorns, Heroics, Home Soil, Home Tie, Lt, Manchester City, Mso, Orphan, Panose, Pitch, Pompey, Prestigious Tournament, Priority, Props, Quarter Finals, Sans Serif, Span, Stamford Bridge, Style Definitions, Style Type, Text Decoration, Theme Font, Times New Roman, Villa Park, West Brom, White Hart Lane