The English Premier League Round 29 will showcase three matchups on Sunday with the Middlesbrough hosting the Manchester United, Tottenham awaiting Southampton and the final Sunday matchup is a real treat for all soccer fans between Manchester City Blues and the Liverpool Reds. Although the City vs. Liverpool matchup is very tempting to analyze, we have decided to switch our focus on the 2nd ranked Tottenham who will host the 10th ranked Southampton at the White Hart Lane. It will be interesting to see how the hosts react in the first game after the injury of their best scorer Harry Kane, while the visitors will look to extend their positive form after winning 2 straight games.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR vs. SOUTHAMPTON
3-Way: 1: Tottenham -135 Home; X: +300 Draw; 2: Southampton +465 Away
Spread: Tottenham -0.5 -137; Southampton +0.5 +133
Total 2.5+: Over -105; Under +104
The Spurs thrashed Milwall in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup with 6:0 and although many would brag about such a high win, the Spurs are mourning because of the fact that their best player this season, Harry Kane, has picked up an ankle injury and will be sidelined for at least 6 more weeks. Just as the Spurs were picking up their form and came close to cementing their spot among the top 4 teams, another setback knocked on the door and now the Spurs will have to find a way to win games without Kane. It is his 2nd time sitting on the sidelines due to an injury, and during the first spell, the Spurs were able to win 3 games. However, the Spurs’ coach Mauricio Pochettino believes that this time things will be different with Kane being on the side. Pochettino believes that the Spurs underperformed in September because of the fact that the players were exhausted after the Euro Competition. With Kane in lineup the Spurs have not been defeated in the last 5 games including all competitions. The game on Sunday will wrap up Tottenhams 5-game stretch at home.
The Spurs celebrated a 3:2 win over Everton at the White Hart Line, which by the way was their 12h consecutive win at home, along with 2 draws. The last time the Spurs suffered a loss at home was when Southampton visited the London side in May of last year. The hosts will most probably be without a handful group of players who are all dealing with injuries. Kyle Walker, Victor Wanyama, Harry Kane, Denny Rose and Erik Lamela are all sidelined, but the good info is that Mousa Dembele is fit again and could see some minutes on the pitch.
Southampton has had enough time to rest and prepare well for this contest, after seeing the pitch for the last time back on March 4, against Watford, when they celebrated a crucial 3:4 win. In the Round 22 Southampton played again on the road against Sunderland and scored 4 goals as well, which should be a decent indication of what we can expect come Sunday. The Saints currently hold the 10th spot with 33 points collected, but take in consideration that the Saints have two games less than their competition. It is noticeable that the Saints have significantly improved over the last period, but we will see if it is going to be enough on Sunday afternoon. The Saints Head coach Claude Puel will pretty much have the entire lineup at disposal and ready to go, except the four crucial players who will be sidelined. Van Dijk, McCarthy, Austin and Target.
When we look at the Head-to-Head stats, we see that the Spurs have been dominant by far, winning 7 of their last 9 meetings with the Saints. Out of those 9 meetings, the two teams made sure to score at least one goal in the match. Furthermore, the overs came in 6 of their 9 performances. The hosts will certainly miss the leading scorer of the English Premier league, but with a deep bench, we are sure that Pochettino will find the best suitable solution for Eriksen and Alli Dele, who combined have scored 18 English Premier League goals.
With all being said, I expect a very open game with a lot of running on the sides, while at the same time the final outcome will most likely depend on the pure strategy of both teams.
MY PICK: Over 2.5 goals (-10%)
