English Premier
2011-04-09 - Tottenham vs Stoke City
A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted
Football : England : Premier League
Saturday, April 9th, 2011 - Kickoff 3:00PM GMT
TOTTENHAM
The European adventure has come to an end as Tottenham got opened up and torn to shreds by a clinical Real Madrid. Barring a miracle, there will be no coming back from that 4-0 first leg defeat, and Harry Redknapp knows the only chance of rescuing this season now is by finishing 4th. At the moment, they trail Chelsea (4th) and Manchester City (3rd) and with the team without a league win in their last 4 attempts, the pressure is well and truly on.
The most worrying fact about this 4 game winless streak is that it has come against teams looking to avoid relegation. The quality of the opposition has not been high, although one could argue they would have been fighting extra hard. But then again, that's what Spurs should have been doing too. 3 draws and a defeat has given the advantage to Chelsea and Manchester City and few would bet against them now holding on to those places.
Aaron Lennon is still out, having also missing the match in Madrid. Ledley King is a long term absentee. Crouch will be expected to make up for his stupidity in Madrid, where he got sent off early, while there is a chance Defoe gets an opportunity to try and get this team back to winning ways. Van Der Vaart is also fit and will play.
STOKE CITY
Stoke certainly impressed last weekend, as they led Chelsea until Drogba's equaliser. The match ended 1-1 and that was an excellent result for the Potters. They will come here with confidence after that game, having had the week to rest and prepare for this. Contrastingly, Spurs are not as well rested, having travelled back and forth from Spain, and will be far from confident after the domestic winless run got the punctuation mark from Madrid.
Tony Pulis' side lie 11th at the moment, and will draw belief from the 1-0 win they pulled here last year. Prior to the Chelsea draw, Stoke well and truly had their scoring boots on as they tore Newcastle apart 4-0. Tottenham have been awful at keeping teams quiet and I have no doubt Stoke will be able to take advantage and score.
The difference will be decided by Tottenham's attackers. There is enough talent for Spurs to score against Stoke, but there is a chance they might not perform because of their mental state at the Champions League exit that will surely become final at the end of the return leg. That is why I am not keen to try and bet on the final result.
BETTING VERDICT
I'm going to keep it simple and have a go at both teams to score in this one.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Both teams to score
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take Both Teams To Score @ 1.90 (Bet365)
