Europa League
2013-04-04 - Tottenham Hotspur vs Basel
A Sports Betting Pick by Cruiser
Football : Europa League
Venue: White Hart Lane
Thursday 4th April 2013 – Kickoff time 20:05
Match Preview :
Tottenham comes into this match after finally getting a win at the weekend when they beat Swansea 2-1 in the English Premiership. Prior to that they suffered back to back defeats against Inter in the Europa League and also Fulham in the Premiership.
It didn't come to a surprise to many that Gareth Bale was on target against Swansea as he seems to be in hot form and many has said he is a one man show for Tottenham now. And at the moment Tottenham are still chasing for the Champions League spot in the Premiership, but they will want to focus at the moment on the Europa League tonight when Basel comes visiting.
It has to be said that after that wonderful performance against Inter in the first leg where they won 3-0, they then struggled to cope against Inter and it was 3-3 at one stage until Emmanuel Adebayor’s extra-time strike saw Tottenham made it on the away goals rule.
AVB will now demand more for his boys and make sure they do not repeat the same mistake against Inter and make home advantage count as they replicate the same performance against Inter in the first leg which should be good enough to seal the win, regardless of the second leg in Basel and also give out a strong message to the other teams left in the competition.
No doubt that in AVB they have a manager that has already won the competition and a player in Bale who is in hot form they should get the better of Swiss side Basel at home.
Meanwhile, Murat Yakin’s Basel have won three consecutive Swiss Super League titles and are currently on course for a fourth title as they battle with rivals Grasshoppers in the Swiss League. Basel have always been the team in the Swiss League that has made the headlines and been on the forefront of European competition so it is little surprise to see them representing Switzerland's League once again.
After being top of their league for so many years, they will want to go a step ahead and win th Europa League. Nevertheless, last season their run to the Round of 16 of the Champions League may have ended in humiliation as they lost to Bayern Munich 7-0, but they did did beat Bayern Munich in the first leg and and previously had drawn with Manchester United at Old Trafford and defeated them in Switzerland, knocking the English giants out of the tournament in one of the upset results as well.
This season in the Europa League they have done better, as they are in the last eight of the Europa League after wins over Dnipro and more surprisingly Zenit St Petersburg. Yakin have done wonders since taking over the team but they could come unstuck against a strong Tottenham side here it should be said. However, If they can grab an away goal at White Hart Lane, then they will fancy their chances going back to St. Jakob Park next week.
Predictions :
Go for Tottenham to win and give the 1 1/4 ball here.
The Pick :
Tottenham 2-0 Basel
