Champions League
2010-08-17 - Young Boys vs Tottenham Hotspur
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : Champions League 1st Leg
Tuesday 17 August 2010 - Kickoff 7:45pm
The match is live on TV
Young Boys
This is a huge tie for both teams as they battle to qualify for the group stages of the most prestigious competition in club football. Young Boys will be hoping to emulate FC Zurich who qualified through this stage last season and went on to play Real Madrid and AC Milan in the groups. Young Boys have not competed in the Champions League in the current format, and were last in the top competition of Europe in 1986/87 when they lost to Real Madrid 5-1 over 2 legs in the first round.
The side will be relying on a strong home record which helped them to 2nd place in Switzerland last season, losing only 1 game there in the League. The side were knocked out of Europe by Athletic Bilbao in the first round of the Europa League last season, losing both ties at home and away. This season, Young Boys managed to beat Fenerbache after drawing 2-2 here and winning 0-1 in Turkey.
The Swiss team will be hoping to continue a strong record at home in Europe with only 1 defeat in their last 10 games here, that being the game against Bilbao. They have had teams like Red Star Belgrade and Marseille visit in that time as well as Fenerbache, but I would suggest Tottenham are the strongest team of that bunch that they have had to entertain.
Young Boys have made an inconsistent start to the new season, compiling a 2-3-2 record so far. They have been particularly disappointing at home where they are 0-1-2 including a 0-1 home defeat at the weekend to Neuchatel Xamax, a team who had not won a game all season.
Team news is hard to come by at the moment, although it seems only a couple of players were rested at the weekend in anticipation for this game.
Possible Young Boys Line Up :
Wolfli, Spycher, Sutter, El Jemal, Affolter, Degen, Hochstrasser, Doubai, Lulic, Constanzo and Ntsama (3-5-2)
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur picked up from where they left off last season with a dominant first half display against Manchester City on the opening weekend of the season and they will perhaps feel a little disappointed that they only managed 1 point from the game. This is a huge game for Spurs as they look to grace the top table of European football for the first time in 50 years and the result of this 2 legged tie could determine their season already.
Harry Redknapp must have been pleased with the amount of chances his side created in their first game of the season before they travel to Switzerland for this game. It is the best possible draw his side could have got at this stage of the competition as they avoided the likes of Ajax, Sampdoria and Auxerre and Spurs must take advantage of their fortune.
Spurs were not involved in European competition last season but many of these players would have gained some knowledge of European games from their run in the Europa League 2 years ago. That year, Spurs went 1-1-2 in away games,scoring 2 goals but conceding 5. The lack of European football last season should not concern Redknapp as most of his squad have strong international pedigree.
It will be interesting to see the kind of line up Tottenham start with, taking into consideration the risk of cup-tying players who are possibly to be sold in this transfer window. I expect to see a very similar team to the one that played against Manchester City, with perhaps a little more defensive cover.
Possible Tottenham Hotspur Line Up :
Gomes, Corluka, King, Dawson, Bale, Lennon, Huddlestone, Palacious, Modric, Crouch and Defoe (4-4-2)
Prediction
Young Boys have not had the most positive start to the season although their win over Fenerbache should inspire some confidence in their own abilities. Many have already ruled them out in this 2 legged game, and it will be up to them to take advantage of their synthetic pitch to perhaps ruffle some Spurs' feathers.
Tottenham Hotspur will not be taking this game lightly and will know the importance of coming back to England with a positive result from the first game. The team looked very good against Manchester City for the majority of the game on Saturday, particularly the first half, and a start like that in this game could pay dividends.
I have to have respect for the home record of Young Boys in European competition in recent season, but I also feel this is the toughest test they would have encountered. I expect the Swiss side to come out strong in front of their own supporters but I am not convinced they have faith in their ability to win this game.
Tottenham have not been the best travellers in England in recent seasons but have had European wins at PSV, Slavia Prague and NEC and I think they will add to that here with a win and one foot in the group stages.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Young Boys 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
