Tottenham v Aston Villa – White Hart Lane at 16:00 live on BBC One
For my Sunday Asian Handicap preview, I focus my attentions on White Hart Lane. Tottenham play host to Aston Villa in a tricky FA Cup tie, but I expect the hosts to progress to the fourth round without too much trouble.
Tottenham
Spurs are one of the Premier League’s form teams. Their midweek win over league leaders Chelsea made it 5 wins on the spin and 7 in 8 in all competitions.
They will be full of confidence after their excellent performance against the Blues which lifted them to 3rd in the table.
Anything other than a win here will come as a shock even though I expect Pochettino to name a slightly weakened starting XI.
Harry Kane and Dele Alli are likely to be rested, but Tottenham have a enough quality and a superb record against the Villains, to avoid defeat or even a replay.
In their last 16 meetings with Aston Villa, the Lilywhites have won 12 times, losing just once.
Aston Villa
Villa currently sit 12th in the Championship but have massively improved since Steve Bruce took over.
Bruce has won seven of his 14 games in charge, losing just three times. However, on the road, they are still struggling.
The Villains have lost 3 of their last 4 away games and are the lowest scorers away from home in the Championship. It doesn’t bode well for Villa, coming up against one of the Premier League’s best defences.
I can see Bruce setting up defensively here as the best he can surely hope for is a replay, where he will fancy his chances more at Villa Park. I don’t think they are strong enough to keep a clean sheet though and will find it hard to break down a strong Tottenham back line.
Asian Handicap
Spurs come in to the tie as 1.33 favourites and justifiably so. They have won 8 of their 10 matches at the lane this season, drawing twice.
Villa’s away record is poor and even up against a slightly weakened Spurs side, I can’t see them getting on the score sheet.
I expect the hosts to win this one to nil and offer some value -1.5 on the Asian Handicap market at 1.90.
Asian Handicap Recommendation: Tottenham -1.5 at 1.90
Prices correct at time of writing.
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