Aston Villa v Spurs: Tune in for the second half at Villa Park

Aston Villa have failed to score in their last three meetings with Tottenham, losing by an aggregate score of 10-0, but another interesting development is the number of these goals to have arrived in the second half.

Nine of these 10 strikes have come after the interval, with the sole exception being Jermain Defoe’s opener in the 4-0 Capital One Cup success at Villa Park last month, and even this was in first-half stoppage time.

Therefore, rather than backing the Tottenham clean sheet at 17/10 or even the Spurs win to nil at 5/2, the most profitable bet has to be that it is the second half that witnesses the most goals.

Aside from the recent history between the pair, further weight is provided by the fact that Andre Villas-Boas has not seen his side score a goal in the first half of any Premier League away fixture this season.

Paul Lambert has an almost identical dilemma at Villa, as his side are still to score in the first half of a home fixture.

It is 11/10 that more goals are scored in the second half than the first at Villa Park and this can’t be refused, while 19/10 is the price on the score being 0-0 at the interval.

In terms of picking a winner, Tottenham are the understandable favourites at 21/20, especially considering the aforementioned cup triumph.

However, Villa are at their most dangerous against opposition that commit numbers forward, as they have already proven with victories over Arsenal and Manchester City this season.

This could be part of the reason that Lambert has won more Premier League away games as Villa manager than what he has at home.

With Christian Benteke also potentially back to feature after a spell out injured, Villa may have some admirers here though at 11/4, while the draw can be backed at 12/5.

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

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