English Premier
2012-09-23 - Tottenham Hotspur vs Queens Park Rangers
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Sunday 23 September 2012 - Kick Off 4pm
Tottenham Hotspur
You could just see the relief on Andre Villa-Boas' face last weekend as he recorded the first win as manager of Tottenham Hotspur at Reading. There are some suggestions that the fans are getting on board with what the Portuguese manager is trying to implement at White Hart Lane, but a win at this famous old venue is what they want more than anything.
The win at the Majedski Stadium moved Spurs to 5 points for the season and up to 10th in the Premier League table. The top four is the requirement for the team this season, but they must improve their 0-2-0 record at home where they have scored 2 goals and conceded 2, but played Norwich City and West Brom.
They had their 3rd straight home draw to open the season when finishing 0-0 against Lazio in the Europa League on Thursday, but they had at least two goals ruled out harshly. Spurs have lost just 1 of their last 10 home games in all competitions, although their draws to open the season means the team have won just 2 of their last 6 here.
Andre Villa-Boas played a strong team on Thursday night and I can only imagine Brad Friedal, William Gallas and Gylfi Sigurdsson will be staring on Sunday that didn't on Thursday. Scott Parker, Emmanuel Adebayor and Benoit Assou-Ekotto are all doubtful.
Queens Park Rangers
It has been seen many times before that a squad can require a little bit of time before gelling when a lot of new faces are brought in to a club in a short period of time. Queens Park Rangers may find they have some inconsistent performances as that is the case for them, although they will have received a real boost in confidence from a 0-0 home draw with Chelsea.
That improved Rangers' points total to 2 this season and moved them up to 18th in the Premier League table. QPR have a 0-1-1 away record in the League, scoring 2 goals and conceding 4, although one of their away games was at Manchester City when it needed a late goal to seal their fate.
QPR do only have 1 win to their name from their 5 games in all competitions this season, but they have had much improved performances from the opening day horror shown when beaten by 5 at home to Swansea. One real concern for QPR is their away form that has seen them lose 12 of their last 15 away games in the League with the other 3 games ending in draws.
Andrew Johnson will unfortunately be missing much of this season after a bad knee injury, while Fabio is going to be absent with a hamstring issue that forced him off after 13 minutes last weekend. Stephane Mbia may be in the squad, but Samba Diakite remains on his leave of absence.
Head to Head
Tottenham Hotspur beat Queens Park Rangers 3-1 here after losing 1-0 at Loftus Road in their two League games last season.
Spurs have won their last 2 home games against their London rivals, although these have been separated by 16 years.
Prediction
I have been very critical of Andre Villa-Boas and some of the tactical decisions he has made during games that has allowed the momentum slip from his Tottenham Hotspur side early in the season and these were highlighted in home draws against Norwich City and West Brom after Spurs had been leading going into the last final minutes of the games.
However, I am not so stubborn that I can't give him some credit for coaxing two good performances from his players in a win over Reading and a really unlucky draw with Lazio in the Europa League.
They are creating a lot of chances and it seems only a matter of time before a team takes a real hammering at their hands and my feeling is that Queens Park Rangers may be comfortably disposed of this weekend.
As I mentioned above about QPR, they have brought in a number of new faces which will likely lead to inconsistent performances. They played well against Chelsea, but also should have given away at least one penalty so they may not be as fortunate this week.
Sometimes it is a good thing to go with what your gut feeling is telling you and mine is screaming that Tottenham could record a healthy win before their trip to Old Trafford next week and the factors all seem to indicate that QPR could struggle to contain them on Sunday.
The Asian Handicap will at least return half the stake if Spurs only win by one goal, but I'll take them to cover and beat QPR by a couple of goals for the second successive season.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Queens Park Rangers
