Southampton v Tottenham: Spurs to return to winning ways at Saints
Tottenham have never won at Southampton’s St. Mary’s Stadium, but they have a fantastic opportunity to set the record straight this season.
The Premier League’s 5th place team can be backed at 5/6 to rid the monkey off their back when they travel to the relegation-dwelling Saints.
Nigel Adkins’ promoted outfit have well-known defensive inadequacies in their squad, shipping a startling 24 goals from their opening eight league games.
And with Tottenham beginning to settle into some domestic rhythm this campaign with 15 goals from eight, an away victory looks in prospect.
Southampton have had to contend with a tough opening fixture list upon their return to the top tier, already facing heavyweights Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United.
And fellow North London side Spurs will be looking to continue the south-coast club’s struggles by racking up their fifth league win of the season.
André Villas-Boas’ new-look team put three past Reading on route to a fine away win in Berkshire, and followed that up with a stunning 3-2 triumph at Old Trafford.
It would take a brave man to back Southampton to win against their much-fancied opponents, with a price of 16/5 available for a home victory.
However, since the move from the Dell, the Saints have won all five of their meetings with Spurs in their new surroundings, including four consecutive 1-0 wins at the beginning of the century.
Times have changed drastically for both teams since then, but if Southampton are to pull of an unexpected win then odds of 14/1 are tempting for this favoured scoreline.
Southampton and Tottenham have drawn just three league games between them this term, and a fourth can be backed at 13/5.
Even though Spurs lost their last league outing 4-2 against Chelsea before taking just a point in their Europa League clash with Slovenian minnows Maribor, a victory is beckoning for the visitors in this clash.
The goalscorer markets are sure to see some action, with punters likely to back in-form strikers Jermain Defoe and Ricky Lambert.
Defoe has been preferred to Emmanuel Adebayor by Tottenham’s Portuguese tactician this season, and he may be set to reward his manager’s faith further with a goal anytime available at 5/4.
For the hosts, Lambert has found the net four times already in the league, and can be backed at 9/4 to score during the 90.
Away from the favourites, Gareth Bale is to return to his previous club after missing two games due to the birth of his first child, and the Welshman is at 2/1 to score anytime.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
