Europa League
2011-08-18 - Hearts vs Tottenham Hotspur
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : European Europa League
Thursday 18 August 2011 - Kickoff 7:45pm
Hearts
It is an age old battle between the Scots and the English, but this time it is on the football pitch with not many home players that are likely to be involved. Hearts may well feel they have a chance to cause a surprise in this tie as they are much further into their competitive fixtures.
Jim Jeffries was recently removed as manager after what was considered a disappointing start to the season, and his replacement is Paulo Sergio and he has talked of how excited the players have been in training as they all want to be involved in this fixture.
Hearts beat Paksi in the last Round thanks to a 4-1 home win in the second leg, but they have made a poor 1-1-2 start in the Scottish Premier League. They have a 1-0-1 record at Tynecastle in the League after winning their first game of the season courtesy of a 3-0 win over Aberdeen on Saturday.
The team finished with a 9-5-5 record here last season. Hearts have won their last 2 home games in Europe, but they had lost 3 of their previous 4 matches at Tynecastle.
Mehdi Taouil is absent but the likes of Eggert Jonsson, Arvydas Novikovas, David Obua and Andy Webster are all available.
Tottenham Hotspur
The riots that took place in London last week meant Tottenham's first game of the season against Everton had to be postponed on the advice of the police. That means the players will have their first competitive game of the season tonight with a tough fixture at Manchester United next on the schedule.
Harry Redknapp was not exactly jumping for joy when his team made sure they finished in 5th position last season and earned their spot in the Europa League. There was a lot of suggestion that he would play weakened teams throughout the competition, but Redknapp has stated he will play his strongest available team tonight.
Tottenham finished with a 7-5-7 record away from home in the Premier League last season, scoring 25 goals and conceding 27. In Europe, they earned draws in Twente and Werder Bremen and beat AC Milan while losing at Young Boys, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.
Even though Redknapp has said he will play his strongest team, injuries, especially to the centre midfield area, means Jake Livermore is very much expected to start. Danny Rose may also play a part as Luke Modric, Sandro, Wilson Palacious, Tom Huddlestone, Jermaine Jenas and Steven Pienaar are all injured.
Ledley King, William Gallas and Alan Hutton are also ruled out, but Rafael Van der Vaart has travelled with the squad after recovering from an ankle injury.
Prediction
I can understand why Tottenham have been priced as a fairly short favourite in this game, but I think it will be tougher for them than the layers may think.
This is the first competitive game Spurs will play and they are missing so many players in the centre midfield position that they may find it hard to breakdown the Hearts team.
Hearts should also be able to match the Tottenham fitness levels considering they have played 6 competitive games already this season and they have been a little better at home in European matches more recently.
I am sure this match will be close, so I think the best way to attack it is backing Hearts on the Asian Handicap and hoping they do enough to keep themselves in the tie before travelling down to White Hart Lane next week.
The Pick :
Hearts 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
