Why Burnley must forget Kane and go for the jugular against Spurs

As Harry-Kania sweeps the nation, Burnley could well be forgiven for thinking they’ll be facing just one man when Tottenham Hotspur roll up at Turf Moor.

Kane sent the country into raptures by marking his England debut with a goal after just 78 seconds during the international break.

There’s also the matter of his hat-trick against Leicester in his last Premier League outing to consider. A treble that took him joint-top of the league scorer standings.

It’s no surprise to see Kane at the top of the goalscorer market in Burnley v Spurs, rated at 3/1 to bag the opener and 21/20 to net at any time.

However, the hosts should be more interested in what happened at the other end of Spurs’ 4-3 win over the Foxes, as the Lilywhites’ defence looked a complete shambles.

That was far from the first time Mauricio Pochettino’s side has failed to impress at the back this season, and the second game in a row in which they had shipped three.

Spurs have conceded 45 goals this season, the fifth-most in the Premier League, with three of the four teams with worse records currently in the relegation zone.

Burnley are one of those teams, and it’s understandable that their primary concern might be how their weak backline matches up against Kane, but they’d be better off focusing on their own attacking play.

Pochettino’s 4-2-3-1 system sees Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason act as the deep midfielders, with neither entirely comfortable with the traditional holding role.

Spurs have kept just two clean sheets in 19 games in all competitions in 2015, with one of those coming against League One Sheffield United.

With Kane on top form, Spurs’ attacking prowess has bailed them out in many matches, but if Burnley seek to put them on the back foot from the start, they are almost certain to enjoy their day in front of goal.

The Clarets are 13/5 to win the match, healthy odds considering they bested Manchester City in their last home game.

However, given the dodgy defences on display, the really safe bet on display is the 7/10 that both teams score, as has happened in all of their three meetings so far this season.

Furthermore, if Burnley take our advice and go for the visitors’ jugular, over 3.5 goals looks a great bet at 19/10, a wager that would have landed in four of Spurs’ past six league outings.

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

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