Aston Villa v Tottenham Betting 26/12/12

Aston Villa v Tottenham Betting Preview

Both Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur started the season of slowly, but in recent weeks, they have both been playing much better and in turn have been recording some fantastic results. However, after poor results on the weekend both teams will be looking to win this one. Choose a free bet for this match.

Aston Villa (LWDDW)                                      Tottenham (WWLWW)

Chelsea 8-0 Aston Villa                                            Tottenham 0-0 Stoke City

Liverpool 1-3 Aston Villa                                         Tottenham 1-0 Swansea City

Aston Villa 0-0 Stoke City                                        Everton 2-1 Tottenham

QPR 1-1 Aston Villa                                                  Fulham 0-3 Tottenham

Aston Villa 1-0 Reading                                           Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool

Paul Lambert has been heavily scrutinised at times this season for changing his team around and playing ‘kids’. However, in recent weeks he has definitely proved his critics wrong and his young stars have shown what they are capable of. The 3-1 away win at Anfield was a tremendous result which saw Villa play some very impressive football limiting Liverpool to few clear-cut chances. Unfortunately for Paul Lambert and Aston Villa they could not continue their good unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge on the weekend and a dismal performance saw them lose 8-0. Chelsea were extremely fast and clinical on the counter-attack and it seemed as if Aston Villa’s young naïve defence could not handle the counter-attack and consequently suffered, in a game where Chelsea could have scored 10.

Tottenham also come into this game on the back of a disappointing result where they failed to score against Stoke and played out a 0-0 draw. This game showed that Tottenham have still failed to improve on breaking teams down and are seemingly more comfortable when playing on the counter attack, hence their away form is much better this season. This may play into their hands on Boxing day when they travel to Villa Park as they may come up against an Aston Villa side that leave gaps open.  Spurs will hope that Lennon and Bale will be able to exploit these gaps and release front man Defoe who has shown his tremendous goal scoring capabilities this season.

After his £7 million summer transfer from Genk, Belgian forward Christian Benteke has made a good impression with the Villa fans. The striker is Villa’s leading goal scorer this season and has netted four times in his last five games in all competitions, including a brace at Anfield two games ago. After declaring his immediate future to Aston Villa the forward will be looking to keep his goal scoring run going and is 5/1 to open the scoring against Tottenham of Wednesday. Another in form striker is that of Jermaine Defoe, the English forward who has shown his true capabilities since securing a starting spot. With 9 goals in 17 Premier League appearances the striker has recorded his best start to a season in recent years.  The impressive Defoe is also 5/1 to continue his good run of form and open the scoring at Villa Park. Backing both players to score at anytime during the match may also prove to be a good bet and is widely available at 9/2.

After both teams suffered poor results on the weekend they will both come into this match in search of victory.  In recent weeks it has been evident that Aston Villa are a fast improving side and are very much a work in progress. However, their young side seem to be naïve when facing the bigger teams and are being caught on the counter attack. This is backed up by the fact they have conceded a total of 15 goals in matches against Chelsea, Man City and Man United this season. This may play into Spurs’ hands who are most effective on the counter attack when they can utilise the pace of Bale and Lennon on the wings and front man Jermaine Defoe. If Aston Villa set up in a similar way and try and attack Spurs they may be open to the counter attack, which may see Spurs run away victorious. Tottenham are a shade of odds on at 10/11 with William Hill to win the match.

Prediction: Aston Villa 1-3 Tottenham @ 14/1

Over 2.5 goals @ 8/13

Defoe to score first @ 5/1

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