Tottenham Hotspur vs APOEL – Champions League Preview – Tottenham sign off their Champions League group with a game against bottom of the table Apoel Nicosia.
Spurs have already secured top spot in Group H as they round off what has been a fantastic European campaign so far. With four wins and only one defeat including taking four points off the reigning European Champions, few would have predicted Tottenham would have won their group with a game to spare.
In fact, few would have fancied Spurs to make it out of their group at all. With the Wembley hoodoo still above their heads in September, winning the ‘group of death’ is an achievement that shouldn’t be played down. Spurs have shown they are more than capable of mixing it against the very best and it should fill them with confidence ahead of the knockout rounds in February.
In the league however, Tottenham are starting to struggle. Mauricio Pochettino’s men have recorded just one win in their last six league games, which has left them adrift of their Premier League rivals. Since their defeat at the hands of Arsenal, Tottenham have just collected two points from a possible nine, with serious questions being asked about their top four credentials. Whilst this dip in form is hardly ideal, Spurs can take comfort from the fact they’re only four points behind fourth-placed Liverpool.
Alli will be in the squad to face APOEL this Wednesday Photo Credit: skysports.com
Apoel have only managed two points from their first five group games. They’re yet to win in this year’s competition, but if they can better Borussia Dortmund’s result against Real Madrid, they will find themselves in the Europa League. Domestically they have won their last four games which leaves them third in their respective division.
In the league this season, Tottenham have been awarded the second highest number of corners. Spurs have averaged 6.7 corners from their 15 league games. At home, there average is even higher with 63 corners from 7 league games (9pg). They have, however, conceded the fourth highest number of corners at home in the Premier League, averaging at 5.7 a game. With this in mind, corners would not be a bad shout for any potential RAB’s on Wednesday night.
Spurs only previous meeting against Apoel came in the reverse fixture back in September. Tottenham came out victorious on that occasion, with a Harry Kane hattrick sealing a 3-0 win. Given that there is nothing riding on this match, I think Tottenham may make a few changes in order to rest players for the Premier League. They should still get the job done comfortably though.
Prediction: Tottenham 2-0 Apoel
SKYBET RAB: SPURS TO SCORE 2+ GOALS AND GET 10+ CORNERS- 11/4
SKYBET: LLORENTE TO SCORE FIRST AND SPURS TO WIN 3-0- 16/1
SKYBET: SPURS TO WIN TO NIL- 1/1
SKYBET: BTTS AND TOTTENHAM TO WIN- 13/8
BET365: SPURS OVER 2.5 – (link no longer available)
BET365: 0-0 DRAW- (link no longer available)
BET365: SPURS TO WIN 2-0 CORRECT SCORE- (link no longer available)
