Tottenham take on Hearts in a ‘Battle of Britain‘ as the highlight of this Thursday’s Europa League play-offs which will also feature Celtic, Rangers, Stoke City, Birmingham City and Fulham.
Manager Harry Redknapp may seem more concerned about the ticking clock in his head that counts down to the final frantic minutes of the transfer window than Spurs’ Europa League campaign and he probably is, which makes Hearts a great bet at 4/1 (90 Minutes) to take a first-leg lead down to London.
The Tynecastle club’s owner was widely criticised for axing ex-boss Jim Jefferies after the 1-1 draw to Hungarians Paksi in the previous round, but his decision didn’t look so bad when Hearts ran out 4-1 winners in the second leg.
New coach Paulo Sergio is endearing himself to the fans and local press alike and saw his team turn Aberdeen over 3-0 at home last weekend.
Spurs, however, are yet to play a competitive match this season after their opening Premier League match was called off following the riots and may be a bit short of competitive match sharpness for a clash which, as any Anglo-Scottish affair could be, may be tasty.
John Sutton grabbed a brace at the weekend and, although he didn’t score their first, the ex-Motherwell man is 7/1 (First Goalscorer) to bag the opener against Spurs while Hearts are 9/5 (To Score First Goal) if you prefer.
Stoke City may be worth opposing on their travels too as they, like Spurs in the Champions League last year, take on a useful Swiss team on a plastic pitch.
FC Thun are currently top of the Swiss standings following a 5-2 home win at the weekend and with the safety net of the second leg at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke boss Tony Pulis may field a weakened line up for this first leg.
Pulis has spoken about the concern he has that the hard surface may lead to injuries in his squad in the lead-up to the match, so the 2/1 on offer for a home win looks incredibly tempting.
Without wanting to sound totally anti-English here, Birmingham City’s Europa League involvement may not last much beyond this round either as they face a first-leg trip to Madeira to take on CD Nacional.
Chris Hughton is without a number of key players for the clash and, although Nacional are not up there with the best teams in Portugal, they have a good defensive record.
The Blues may be able to come away with a small deficit from the match to keep them in touch over the tie and a scoreline of 1-0 to Nacional at 9/2 (Correct Score) or HT Draw/FT Nacional at 10/3 (Half Time/Full Time) appear to be the safest wagers.
Now for the good news! Celtic look a great bet to win their home leg against FC Sion and at 8/15 should be in most accumulators, while Rangers (6/4) and Fulham (4/6) can also make progress against Maribor and Dnipro at bigger, but slightlier riskier prices.
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