English Other
2010-09-21 - Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Carling Cup
Tuesday 21 September 2010 - Kickoff 8pm
This game is live on TV
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur have had some serious success in this competition in recent seasons, but it is clear that it has not always been a favourite of their manager Harry Redknapp. While it does offer a chance for silverware, Redknapp feels his side have bigger fish to fry this season with the new added demands of the Champions League although the fact they were paired with their North London rivals means a win is the only result the fans will accept.
Spurs have made a decent start to the new season and their win on Saturday against Wolverhampton Wanderers pushed them up to 5th in the table. It was their first League win of the season at White Hart Lane and would have felt good to the team after they were losing 0-1 with 15 minutes of play left.
The manager has made it clear that he will be making a number of changes for the match due to injuries as well as giving some of the fringe members of the squad further playing time. Vedran Corluka, Ledley King, Younes Kaboul and William Gallas are all carrying injuries or knocks and will not take part here so Sabastien Bassong is the only recognised centre back available. Niko Kranjcar, Wilson Palacious, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Sandro are all expected to come into the side as well as Alan Hutton who had such a strong performance on Saturday.
Arsenal
If there is one thing we should all know about Arsene Wenger its that he is a man who sticks by his principles at all times. Therefore we can expect the Gunners to have a side littered with the new young talent at the club as the Carling Cup remains the best opportunity to blood these players into the first team. Many fans believe putting a trophy in the cabinet, any trophy, is the most important objective this season but this competition remains off the rader it seems.
Arsenal were hit with a late late goal at the Stadium of Light at the weekend which dropped them 4 points off leaders Chelsea. The bigger concern in the short term was another injury picked up with Captain Cesc Fabregas coming off and looking like he will be out for a couple of weeks at least. While Arsenal remain unbeaten away from home in the League this season, they have drawn 2 of the 3 games they have played.
It is very hard to determine how young this Arsenal side will be but we can imagine that the likes of Kieron Gibbs, Lukas Fabianski, Jack Wilshire and Craig Eastmond will start although Marouane Chamakh may also be forced to be used with the injuries sustained by the front line this season.
Head to Head
Tottenham Hotspur will be hoping to replicate the form that gave them a 5-1 win in this competition over their rivals here in 2008 at the Semi Final stage. Even on that occasion, Arsene Wenger decided to go with the young players instead of the established ones.
Spurs also beat Arsenal here in the League game in April last season.
Prediction
Tottenham Hotspur are the favourites for this game and rightly so if the expected Arsenal line up without their regular players materialises. While Harry Redknapp may not be a huge fan of this competition, Spurs will be expected to perform by their fans at home against their bitter rivals.
Arsenal will continue their policy of playing their young players in this competition and this will cost them I feel. They wont have the experience that Tottenham will be calling upon and for that reason I have to pick the home win here at odds against.
Remember it is a Carling Cup game and to keep a keen eye on team news.
The Pick :
Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Arsenal
