Spurs vs Lazio betting preview

This Thursday the Europa League kicks off another year’s worth of European competition between some of Europe’s brightest clubs, all fighting for that lucrative place in Amsterdam next Spring and some elusive European silverware. Amongst the twelve groups is Group J, which includes English hopefuls Tottenham Hotspur and Italy’s on-form team Lazio. Though little about qualification for the knock-out stages is decided on match-day one, the clash at White Hart Lane still offers up a tantalising affair, all the more so as both teams are the top candidates to advance out of the group. Choose a free bet for this match here.

André Villas Boas may be wondering what he has to do to recreate his success with Porto, who he led to Europa League glory in 2011, in the North of London. Despite the eternal optimism of Spur’s Fans, who remained confident whilst watching some of their key players depart this summer, Tottenham made a bad start to the season, losing one and drawing two home games. However, in spite of being without a win in four, they struck back against Reading last weekend; winning 3-1 at the Madejski Stadium with Jermaine Defoe picking up two goals to secure the win. A home game may appear more comfortable then, but Spurs fans should be reminded that their team has not won a game at White Hart Lane since a May win against Fulham, and their poor home form has let them down so far this season. This has been coupled with a lack of goals within a team who hadn’t scored more than two goals in a game since a 4-1 win over Bolton last May, although the firepower is seemingly there. Defoe is their highest goalscorer, who will be seeking to continue his good form, and new signing Dembele will provide some danger going forward too, looking to add to his only goal this season.

Lazio could well be the dark horses of this season’s Europa league, and they come in to their first game in fantastic form. The Italian side have won all three games this season in Serie A, leaving them third in the table; and have won their last six games. Their away form is also complimentary to Spur’s poor home form, as Lazio have won their last four away games, and this will be an encouraging statistic for the Italians. Spur’s difficulty scoring goals will also be tested against Lazio, who haven’t conceded more than one goal in a game since a 3-0 loss to Torino back in July. Villas Boas’ main threats will come from German veteran striker Miroslav Klose, who has scored three times this season, although the Brazilian Midfielder Hernanes, who is coming off the back of scoring twice in their last win against Chievo, will also present a challenge to Tottenham’s back line.

The bookmakers make it quite clear who the favourite is in this clash though, as BET365 and SkyBet put a spur’s victory at 5/6 and 4/5 respectively, this in contrast to the long odds for a Lazio victory which is offered at 10/3 with SkyBet, Totesport and BetFRED; perhaps a good chance to more than triple your bet if Lazio take an early lead. This however may not be too likely, as Totesport and BetFRED have Defoe to score first at 5/1; shorter than Miroslav Klose to do the same, who is Lazio’s best chance at 13/2. Taking Spur’s recent scoring record in to account, it is unsurprising that a 1-0 Spur’s Victory is most likely with the bookies, with BET365 and Boylesports offering 6/1 on that scoreline, and this reflects the tight and thrilling game in store.

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by Nick Moss

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