Tottenham v Southampton: expect plenty of goals at White Hart Lane

Tottenham Hotspur face Southampton this Saturday with the north London side big favourites at 1/2 to pick up a vital three points – but things might not be as straightforward as those odds suggest.

Spurs fans won’t need reminding of this fact, but following their 2-1 victory over Arsenal at the start of March, Andre Villas-Boas’ men were seven points ahead of the Gunners and coasting in third place.

However, just two wins in their six games since then have seen them slip out of the Champions League places and they are now 5/4 outsiders to be playing in Europe’s elite competition next season.

A lot of blame for their downturn in form can be laid at the stumbling feet of their increasingly leaky defence.

Spurs haven’t been able to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League since a 1-0 victory over West Brom back in early February and have shipped a brace of goals against the hardly prolific Everton and Wigan in recent weeks.

Southampton may not have the most terrifying forward line in the English top-tier (they’ve averaged just 1.34 goals per game this term) but they are certainly capable of causing the fragile Spurs defence problems.

However, with Spurs losing just three games at home this season, they should have enough to see off the Saints who are 5/1 to cause an upset.

Their game at St Mary’s earlier in the season ended 2-1 and backing both teams to score again is available at 8/11, while Spurs to win with both teams finding the net is currently trading at 19/10.

Finally, award magnet Gareth Bale has scored in each of Spurs’ last eight wins making the 1/1 offered for him to net and Spurs to win looks worth consideration.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.