UEFA Cup Latest
Atletico Madrid won 2-0 at Copenhagen last night in the UEFA Cup group
match to keep my current run of good form going, and it is with the UEFA
Cup I am staying tonight with a look at an interesting match between
Anderlecht and Spurs.
These 2 teams are in group G which also contains Getafe of Spain, Hapoel
Tel Aviv of Israel and Aalborg of Denmark so with the greatest of respect
to these teams it is not the strongest group and both Anderlecht and Spurs
should qualify comfortably from it.
Anderlecht are 2nd and 2 points behind Spurs with a tricky final match at
Getafe to come so will be looking for a win tonight to ensure
qualification before that match.
This is Spurs last match having already lost at home to Getafe in the
infamous match where Martin Jol allegedly lost his job before the kick off
beaten Hapoel in Israel and come back from 2-0 down to beat Aalborg 3-2 at
White Hart Lane in their last group game.
They have 6 points already and with 3 teams going through to the last 32
from each group that should be enough to see them progress.
Both teams it is fair to say have not made the best start to their
respective league campaigns. Anderlecht are currently 5th in the Belgian
league 7 points behind leaders Club Brugge after a poor start to the
season where they have drawn to many games. Their overall league record is
won 6 drawn 6 lost 2 scored 19 and conceded 13 whilst at home they have a
record of won 4 drawn 2 lost 1 scored 11 and conceded 5. They face a hard
task if they wish to win the league this year and qualify for next seasons
Champions League so for a club of their size a run in these seasons UEFA
Cup must be high on their list of priorities.
Tottenham’s league form has been nothing short of woeful, for a team with
so much undoubted talent they have under performed immensely though under
new coach Juande Ramos there are signs of the ship being steadied and
Sundays 3-2 defeat at home to Birmingham was their first in 7 in all
competitions under the new man.
However there must still be cause for concern after they fought back from
1-0 down to lead 2-1 in the way they allowed Birmingham back into the
game.
They are currently 16th in the Premiership 1 point off the drop zone and
although I believe they will soon start climbing the table they have to
strengthen their defence come the January transfer window, and a look at
their away form in the league so far which reads won 0 drawn 5 lost 3
scored 9 conceded 13 highlights where they need to improve.
As I have said many times value is the name of the game for me and with
Anderlecht currently best price 23/10 to win tonight I am prepared to
stake some of my hard earned cash on that being the result tonight, with a
saver on Anderlecht +0.25 on the Asian handicap at best price 13/14 with
Pinnacle.
Spurs away form as I have stated before is poor and though they did win in
Israel earlier in the competition Anderlecht are a different kettle of
fish in front of their fans, also the weekend games may hold a key to
tonight’s result with Spurs facing a very tough game home to Manchester
City whilst Anderlecht travel to bottom of the table St Truidense.
Spurs should have Jermaine Jenas back for tonight’s match but have left
Kaboul out of the squad and still have Gardner, Bale and Assou-Ekotto on
the treatment table and though Ledley King and Ricardo Rocha both played
in a reserve game earlier this week neither will be considered tonight so
Ramos will have a real problem in defence.
Anderlecht will be without Pareja with a muscle problem Juhasz who is
short of match fitness after injury and Biglia who has a knee injury.
So for me Anderlecht to win at best price 23/10 and a small stake on
Anderlecht +0.25 on the Asian handicap market at best price 13/14 with
Pinnacle.
Good luck,
Silverfox.
