AEL Limassol v Tottenham: Spurs to shine in Poch’s first Euro match
Published:Tottenham set sail on yet another Europa League adventure with a trip to Cyprus in Mauricio Pochettino’s first European game in charge.
Spurs, who are the overwhelming favourites for victory at 2/5 with Ladbrokes, produced a clinical display in the play-off last year but will face a sterner test against AEL Limassol.
The Cypriots are 13/2 for the win but have already shown what they are capable of by beating Andres Villas-Boas’ Zenit 1-0 at home in the first leg of their Champions League qualifying clash.
Despite that result it’s difficult to see anything other than a Spurs win and with no value in backing the 2/5 Oliver Yew has picked out three alternative bets for the action at Stadio Antonis Papadopoulos.
The goals did not flow for Spurs at Upton Park but the clash with AEL Limassol represents an excellent chance for the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen to find their shooting boots.
Pochettino may shuffle his pack after their exploits in east London at the weekend but with Andros Townsend and Roberto Soldado waiting in the wings this could be the ideal chance to impress the new boss.
Expect Spurs to create plenty of chances and if the forwards fill their boots beating the -1 handicap should be no problem at all.
The north London club were not afraid to attack away from home in Europe and that mindset is not expected to change under the guidance of Pochettino this term.
Spurs hit two goals in four of their six matches on the road last season and produced 2-0 away wins against Anzhi, Sheriff and Tromso.
Pochettino’s men will hoping to reproduce that form and backing a 2-0 away looks a shrewd move.
It’s fair to say it was a troublesome first season in English football for Soldado with Tottenham but his Europa League performances did provide us glimpses of the talent that was on display at Valencia.
At this stage of the competition last year the Spaniard, who could get his chance to start after sitting on the bench last Saturday, fired a brace in a 5-0 win for Spurs over Dinamo Tbilisi and with a repeat performance in mind it could pay to back him to open the scoring at 3/1.
The 28-year-old did also manage a hat-trick against Anzhi in last season’s tournament and he is 16/1 to score three against AEL Limassol.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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