Arsenal v Spurs: Spurs Sweat on Kane Ahead of North London Derby

tottenham

A run of five straight wins against a mixed set of opponents provides our backdrop for Sunday’s NLD at the Emirates. Our opponents are in good form too and, while our recent record looks impressive, this is the toughest test since we travelled to West Ham last month.

One potential injury scare affects the preparation but Spurs are looking in good shape as they look to take on their oldest rivals.

Team News

Harry Kane Injury
Harry Kane

The concern surrounds Harry Kane who limped out of Thursday night’s win against Dinamo Zagreb after scoring both goals. The striker immediately had an ice pack placed on his knee and, while we all felt it looked like a minor knock, we’re anxiously awaiting news on Friday morning.

Kane’s issue masked the fact that Tanguy Ndombele got an absolute battering in the second half and he might just be a doubt based on any reaction.

Elsewhere, there is the potential to have a fully fit squad as Giovani Lo Celso had been scheduled to return following a lengthy lay off.

Match Odds

There are odds against prices on all three possible outcomes with the home side narrow favourites. Arsenal can be claimed at odds of 17/11 with SportNation while a win for Tottenham is listed at 9/5 with BetFred. Completing the result betting is the draw which is available at best odds of 5/2 with Unibet.

Our run of five straight victories began with a 4-0 win over Wolfsberger in the Europa League and we’ve scored 15 goals in that period. At the other end of the pitch, Spurs have conceded just once in that time.

As for our opponents, they’ve won three, drawn one and lost one of their last five. A win away to Leicester City was the highlight of that particular run.

Side Markets

Naturally you will need to monitor the progress of Harry Kane if you are intending to get involved in the individual goal scorer markets. For now, Harry is favourite to open the scoring on Sunday at 17/4 with Unibet while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is just behind at a best of 19/4 with the same bookmaker.

Elsewhere, Carlos Vinicius can be claimed at 6/1 with MansionBet and 10Bet while Son Heung-Min is also at 6/1, this time with Unibet. Other options from those wearing a Spurs shirt include Gareth Bale at 7/1 with Vbet, Dele Alli at 11/1 with SportPesa and Lucas Moura at 14/1 with BetFred.

As we’ve just seen, Both Teams to Score has only dropped in once during our last five games and it’s available for Sunday’s clash at best odds of just 14/19 with MansionBet and RedZone. That’s quite disappointing considering those stats but, once again, we have to consider the relative qualities of the opponents. However, many might prefer to take the odds of 23/20 from Novibet and Unibet to bet ‘no’ on BTTS.

The numbers in the Total Goals market are quite modest too with best odds of 19/20 from RedZone and SportNation to go Over the 2.5 line. Pushing that to Over 3.5 sees the price lift to 11/5 with MansionBet and VBet.

That just leaves us with Correct Score options and a positive outlook might mean that a 3-1 home win is the pick. This scoreline comes in at 22/1 with GentingBet while the 1-1 draw is available at 11/2 with 10Bet.

Last Season

While it’s pleasing to come away from the Emirates with a draw, we’re aiming a little higher these days and last season’s corresponding fixture saw Tottenham blow a 2-0 lead. Goals from Christian Eriksen were becoming rarer by this stage but the Dane opened the scoring from close range on 10 minutes after Erik Lamela’s shot was saved.

Harry Kane doubled the lead from the penalty spot on 40 minutes but we couldn’t maintain that advantage going into the break. This was something of an issue for Spurs at this point in the campaign and the home side pulled one back in first half injury time. A second goal for Arsenal in the second period went unanswered and we had to settle for a share of the points. 

Our last win at the Emirates came in the EFL Cup in 2018 and Tottenham have only lost once against this opposition in our last seven. As with last season, a share of the points would be OK but we should have the form and confidence to aim higher.

Verdict

arsenal

We don’t seem to be as nervous about this game as we have been in the past and maybe that should be concerning in itself. It’s easy to say that we’ve only played weak opponents in the last five games but there have been far more positive signs during that period.

The rehabilitation of Gareth Bale and Dele Alli is good news and it’s time for them to be put to a stiffer test. Moving forward, we are more of a threat with one or both of them in the side and Spurs desperately needed to take some of the scoring responsibility away from Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min.

Of course, we would be happier if we knew that Kane was starting this match: His injury looked innocuous enough but with Harry you never really know.

So, it’s on to confirmed tips and there are just two this week. It’s the type of game where we might suggest the option to back the one-goal winning margin for either team but we just can’t bring ourselves to do that against this opposition. Instead, we’ll start with the Over 3.5 goals bet: It’s reasonably priced and offers far better value than Both Teams to Score.

That leaves us with Gareth Bale to score at any time as our final suggestion. Bale came off the bench against Dinamo Zagreb which suggests he will start on Sunday and he would like nothing better than to pick up against a club where he had a solid scoring record in his first spell.

Best Bets:

  • Gareth Bale to score at any time in 90 minutes at 9/4 with VBet
  • Over 3.5 Goals at 11/5 with MansionBet

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