Southampton Vs Tottenham Hotspur
Tuesday 1st January 2020 – 15:00 Kick-Off
English Premier League
Pick: Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score
Odds: 10/11
Bookmaker: Bet365
English Premier League Betting at 22Bet
(All betting odds displayed were correct at the time of writing: 29th December 2019 at 08:50)
Preview: Both were forced to settle for a draw in their latest fixtures, meaning we should have two hungry sides battling it out for maximum points as Southampton entertain Tottenham at St Mary’s stadium.
Southampton Vs Tottenham Live Stats & Betting Odds
Southampton Preview – Saints well and truly marching up the table?
More was expected of Southampton (15th – W6 D4 L10, GF24 GA38) in their latest encounter, a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace at St Mary’s, and understandably so. The Saints were seeking a third win in quick succession following recent triumphs over Aston Villa (1-3) and Chelsea (0-2). Both results coming away from home, which is where much of their better work over the course of this season has been produced with four of their six league victories so far earned on the road.
Taking this into consideration, I suppose we shouldn’t have been so surprised when Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side were unable to convert this winning momentum into some rare home success. Southampton have only beaten Norwich and Watford at St Mary’s since the season begun. Both sides were not only inside the relegation zone at the time but in complete disarray. Palace, by some contrast, were in the top-half of the table although were a clear second-best a few days ago: xG SOU 1.62 – 0.25 PAL.
The latter can only be seen in a positive light, as Southampton could have conceivably recorded a third straight win with the amount of chances they created. Danny Ings was not quite at his clinical best but still notched his 12th league goal of 2019-20 and means he has now impressively scored in seven of his last eight appearances when playing from the start. Odds of 6/4 to score anytime with Unibet, for a player enjoying such a rich vein of scoring form, are reasonable up against this leaky Spurs defence.
Tottenham Preview – Disorganised back-line continues to hamper top-four efforts?
Jose Mourinho has worked small wonders by hauling Tottenham (5th – W8 D6 L6, GF36GA29) right back in to top-four contention. However, one aspect of his team that remains in urgent need of serious improvement is the defence. Which is all rather surreal considering the Portuguese was previously renowned for his pragmatism, making his teams notoriously difficult to both play and score against. Virtually every club he has ever managed boasted a formidable rearguard at some stage during his tenure.
Conceding twice away to relegation-threatened Norwich providing the latest defensive disaster-class, drawing 2-2 at Carrow Road but only after twice coming from behind. Harry Kane the saviour once again, converting a late penalty to spare Spurs blushes. Those goals now mean that a 5-0 rout of Burnley at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in early December remains this team’s sole clean sheet in the league since mid-September, conceding on at least one occasion in fourteen of their past fifteen Premier League fixtures. Alarming stuff.
This defensive liability applies added pressure on the forwards to bail them out of trouble, as has often been the case. Since Mourinho took charge Tottenham have scored eighteen times across eight league games, on average more than two per game, and lost only twice (W5 D1 L2). Though those losses were arguably the most damaging, coming against top-four rivals Chelsea (0-2) and Man Utd (2-1). More encouraging has been their record on the road during this time, claiming seven of twelve possible points (W2 D1 L1) whilst scoring a minimum of two goals on three occasions.
Southampton Vs Tottenham – Key Facts:
- This season, Southampton have now seen eight of their ten Premier League home games return both teams to score.
- All four of Tottenham‘s away league games under Jose Mourinho have featured goals for both teams.
- Furthermore, each of the previous eight league meetings finished with both teams among the goals. Southampton were 2-1 victors at St Mary’s in 2018/19.
Betting Summary
This looks set to be an enterprising game of football between two teams not all that dissimilar, with both offering a threat in the attacking third but leaving a lot to be desired when it comes to defending.
Southampton (5/2 Sportingbet) have now scored in nine of the last ten Premier League games but have fared miserably at shutting down their opponents, with fourteen of the previous fifteen all breaching their goal at least once. Meanwhile, Tottenham (23/20 Betfair) have kept just the one clean sheet since Jose Mourinho was appointed (8 league matches) but have scored in all but one of those, which includes doing so on all four occasions as the visiting side.
Tottenham were hopeless at Norwich for large parts and were indebted to VAR for sparing them some minor embarrassment. By contrast, Southampton were more than a little unfortunate to only draw at home with Crystal Palace last time out and are in terrific form generally, winning four of their last seven games. Southampton or Draw (Double Chance) is worthy of some consideration at 3/4 with Unibet. A safer route into this fixture appears to be goals, with most trends suggesting both teams should get in on the act.
