Tottenham old boys hoping to help stall Spurs for struggling Hull
As Emmanuel Adebayor recently pointed out, Tottenham (favourites for victory with Coral at 5/4) have been more successful on their travels this season. This is bad news for Hull City, who have only won one of their previous four clashes at the KC Stadium.
Historical head-to-head encounters also make poor reading for the hosts, who have not managed to record a home win against Spurs since 1977.
Mauricio Pochettino will be looking to top scorer Nacer Chadli to take advantage of the Tigers’ rickety rearguard. The brilliant Belgian wingman has notched up six goals in the league this season and, after netting last time out, is 7/1 to be on target again and draw first blood.
Tottenham have some sensational attacking midfielders on offer, with Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen also at 11/4 and 2/1 to chip in and hit home anytime respectively.
With those three firing on all cylinders, Spurs should have too much firepower for the struggling home team, but the north Londoners are not without problems themselves.
Pochettino has suffered from the less than prolific form of senior strikers Adebayor and Roberto Soldado, but the former is still expected to lead the line against the Tigers.
England Under-21 starlet Harry Kane, who has grabbed 10 goals across all competitions, is likely to start on the bench, but is 5/1 to continue to increase his stock by closing the scoring.
However, there is still hope for Steve Bruce’s boys, as their visitors have shown themselves to be fragile against a number of hardworking teams this term.
After stuttering to defeats against the likes of Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion, Spurs also fell to Stoke City last time out in the league and are certainly vulnerable to being bullied on the counter attack.
The Tigers managed to scrape a 1-1 draw last time Tottenham paid a visit and are 12/5 to split the spoils yet again after ending up on even terms in six games across all competitions this season.
Bruce will be expecting a swift response from his team following a dismal defeat to Burnley, and is 23/10 to see his side rally to steal Spurs’ scalp.
Despite the Tigers’ dip in form, the Manchester United legend has an ace card up his sleeve in the form of Tottenham old boys Michael Dawson, Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore.
The former Spurs stars combine to make a strong spine alongside top scorers Mohamed Diame (5/1 to net anytime) and Nikica Jelavic (15/8), and will be keen to prove a point and compound the visitors’ woes.
Mercurial on-loan attacker Hatem Ben Arfa also possesses the talent to punish Pochettino’s porous defence and is 10/1 to fire home the final goal.
With both teams trying to find form, and keen to make amends for previous poor performances, this encounter should be hotly contested and could be turning point in the term for either side. So expect fireworks, with Spurs’ expansive play to face a tough test against Hull’s five-man midfield, and both clubs at 12/5 to score in the second half.
