EPL Betting – Reds, Spurs Meet in Early Test
By Zack Garrison in News
Updated: January 17, 2018 at 9:39 am ESTPublished:
Liverpool (+204) at Tottenham (+129), Draw (+240)
Two teams with grand ambitions for this EPL season will meet on Saturday (7:30 AM Eastern) when Liverpool (1-0-1, 3 pts) faces Tottenham (1-1-0, 4 pts) at White Hart Lane in London.
Saturday will be the third fixture of the year for both teams. Liverpool got off to a great start to the year, beating Arsenal on the road in a 4-3 thriller. Philippe Coutinho had two goals for the Reds, who scored all four of their tallies in a span of just 20 minutes.
Like most Jürgen Klopp-coached teams, though, Liverpool’s defense looked horrendous and they nearly surrendered a 4-1 lead to the home side. The poor defensive effort continued the next week when the Reds were shocked 2-0 at Burnley.
Two of the five goals they’ve conceded so far have been a direct result of defensive miscues when the team had possession.
Liverpool will need to take much better care of the ball facing Tottenham’s powerful attack. which finished fifth in goals-for last year (with 58). Harry Kane was the EPL leader with 25
Tottenham has only mustered two goals through their first two matches, but it’s been good enough to stay undefeated. Spurs drew Everton (1-1 away) to start the year and then edged out Crystal Palace (1-0 home) last week on a late second-half goal from Victor Wanyama.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino has had problems placing Kane in the right place. Kane played as a forward in the first game against Everton and as an attacking midfielder against Crystal Palace. He’s yet to score this year.
In the trends, Tottenham are 3-1-1 in their last five home games in the EPL. The Reds are 2-1-2 in their last five on the road. Liverpool has had the better of the head-to-head, going 3-2-0 in the last five in the series.
Given how fast and dangerous Liverpool’s attack looked against Arsenal – and how slow Tottenham have looked by comparison – I like this one to end in a scored draw.
Pick: Draw (+240).
Photo credit: Kevin Walsh (Phillipe Coutinho) CC BY 2.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.
Sports Writer
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
