ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PICK - TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR V QPR

English Premier

2011-10-30 - Tottenham Hotspur vs QPR

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Tottenham Hotspur v QPR
Football : English Premier League
Sunday 30 October 2011 - Kickoff 4pm
This game is live on TV

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Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur have really picked up form after a couple of heavy defeats to start the new season and they look like they have a squad of players that are capable of leading them back into the Champions League, even though they are short of numbers defensively at the moment. They will look to continue their good form in the live game on Sunday in front of their passionate fans at White Hart Lane.

The team won 1-2 at Blackburn Rovers last weekend that allowed them to move up to 5th in the table having gained 16 points this season. They also have an additional game to play against Everton at home which was called off due to the London riots in early August. Spurs are 2-0-1 at home this season, scoring 7 goals and conceding 6, and will need a 4 goal win if they want to move into the top 4 for 24 hours at least.

Spurs have won 5 of their last 6 games in all competitions and they are unbeaten in 10 since losing 1-5 to Manchester City here in August. Since that defeat, they have won 4 straight games at White Hart Lane, including League wins over potential Champions League rivals Liverpool and Arsenal. The team have scored at least 2 goals in each of their last 6 Premier League games.

The injuries have the back have not really shown signs of clearing up with both Ledley King and Michael Dawson ruled out, while both William Gallas and Vedrun Corluka will need to pass late fitness tests. That leaves just Younes Kaboul and Sebastien Bassong as the only fit centre halves in the squad. Niko Kranjcar and Steven Pienaar are other doubts, while Tom Huddlestone is out.

QPR

I am not sure how Queens Park Rangers escaped with a win against Chelsea last week as they were completely outplayed in the second half by a team that had just 9 men on the pitch. Much of that game has been overshadowed with the race row involving Anton Ferdinand and John Terry, but Neil Warnock will have to get his side focused for another London Derby against a tough opponent.

The win last week for Rangers was their first at home this season and also moved the team up to 10th in the Premier League as they earned their 12th point this season. QPR are 2-0-2 away from home this season, scoring 4 goals but conceding 8, and only Manchester City and Tottenham have won more away games this season so far.

QPR won their first game in 4 outings last time out, but they have been inconsistent so far this season which can be seen from their recent results. The team have drawn with Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers at home, beating Chelsea but also lost 6-0 at Fulham. Away from home has been the same story with wins at Everton and Wolves without conceding, and then comfortable defeats at Wigan and Fulham.

Danny Gabbidon is expected to return to the squad this week, but Kieron Dyer and DJ Campbell are long term absentees. Neil Warnock may play the same side that beat Chelsea last weekend.

Head to Head

This will be the first meeting between the teams since the 1995/96 Premier League season, a year when Tottenham did the double over QPR.

Prediction

Tottenham Hotspur have so many attacking options at their disposal and they have to rely on that at the moment with the amount of injuries they have in defensive areas, and it is hard to see how QPR will manage to keep them out unless Spurs decide to get 2 players sent off in the same manner as Chelsea last week.

Spurs have been scoring goals for fun in recent games and I think they will be able to expose a QPR defence that has not really followed up defensive efforts so far this season.

I will look for QPR to try and get the ball down and attack Spurs where they can, but the pace and creativity of Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Aaron Lennon and Rafael Van der Vaart could be too much for them, especially with Emmanuel Adebayor up front and Jermaine Defoe someone who can come off the bench.

QPR have either scored away this season, and won, or failed to score, and lost, and I think we are more likely to see the latter this weekend.

I will play Spurs to win this one with a bit to spare.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :

I'll back Tottenham Hotspur -1.25 Asian Handicap @ 1.90