Southampton v Spurs: Tricky Trip to South Coast?

by Matthew Harris · 18th September 2020

Following the distraction of Thursday night’s Europa League qualifier with Lokomotiv Plovdiv, Tottenham get back to the real business of Premier League action with a trip to Southampton. It’s been a shaky opening for both teams and the sides will be anxious to pick up their first points of a new campaign.

St Mary’s is the setting for Sunday’s match which kicks off at Noon so please take a moment to take in our preview.

Team News

There appear to be no new injury concerns following Thursday night’s win over Lokomotiv Plovdiv although confirmed news has been slow to filter back from Bulgaria. Prior to that match, there was a fitness doubt over Giovani Lo Celso which has obviously now cleared up so the only question may surround Japhet Tanganga.

No suspensions are in place so it could just be possible that Jose Mourinho has a full squad to choose from as the club arrives on the South Coast.

Match Odds

Spurs will start as favourites for this match but there are odds against prices on all three possible outcomes which largely reflect our poor start last Sunday. You can claim the away side at best industry odds of 7/5 with VBet while victory for Southampton can be taken at a top price of 9/4 with Unibet. As for the draw, it’s back to VBet who are quoting a best of 41/17.

Southampton also started their 2020/21 season with a 1-0 defeat – away to Crystal Palace while their EFL match with Brentford on Wednesday night ended with another reverse. Clearly it’s not been the best of starts for the Saints but Brentford are a strong Championship side who will feel that they should be playing Premiership football. There’s no huge disgrace in a 2-0 defeat to the Bees but there will be concerns, particularly in the fact that Southampton have yet to find the net.

With form mixed in both camps, this is a tough one to call so let’s quickly move on and look at the side markets currently in place for Sunday’s encounter.

Side Bets

Southampton’s Danny Ings scored twice against us last season and the striker will surely attract some interest in the individual goal scorer betting for Sunday’s encounter. Ings can be taken at best odds of 21/5 to find the net first and that makes him the favourite in this particular market.

It’s rare that Harry Kane is pushed into second place for this bet so there might just be some value in his top price of 9/2 with SportNation. Other options for Spurs in the first goalscorer market include Son Heung-Min at 6/1 with Betway, Dele Alli at 15/2 with VBet, Steven Bergwijn at 8/1 with BetFred and Giovani Lo Celso at 20/1 with BetFred again.

Early results from the start of the new season aren’t suggesting a glut of goals in this fixture. Both Teams to Score is, however, quite short at 10/13 with SportNation and RedZone while you can get a price of 12/11 with VBet if you vote ‘no’ on BTTS.

Anyone predicting a low scoring afternoon at St Mary’s can get best industry odds of 10/11 with BetFred. This does reflect those opening results but we had hoped that this option might sneak above Even Money.

The other potential pick in a low scorer would be to take one of our favourite bets and stake on a winning margin of one goal to either side. For Sunday’s encounter, this is available at 13/10 with Betway.

Finally, in the Correct Score market, a positive outlook could take in a 2-1 win for Spurs which is listed at 17/2 with BetFred and GentingBet. Meanwhile, the same scoreline in favour of Southampton can be backed at 41/4 with RedZone and SportNation.

Last Season

Last season’s corresponding fixture at St Mary’s took place on New Year’s Day and it was forgettable for a number of reasons. Not only did we lose 1-0, we also saw Harry Kane limp out of the game with an injury that would have ended his campaign, had it not been for football’s enforced hiatus.

In the home match at the new White Hart Lane, we came through by two goals to one thanks to strikes from Tanguy Ndombele and Harry Kane. It was an eventful match which saw Serge Aurier sent off while Saints’ goal from Danny Ings followed a bizarre piece of footwork from Hugo Lloris between the Tottenham posts.

Neither of the two performances were exactly convincing and Spurs will need a lift here against a dangerous Saints unit.

Verdict

This one looks genuinely too close to call, particularly considering our sluggish start to the new season. A win will always be a win but a late recovery against nine-man Plovdiv did little to lift the spirit and we are in dire need of a convincing performance on Sunday.

The one thing that we will say with some conviction is that it should be a tight, low scoring game. The fact that we are staking on No for Both Teams to Score and we have taken Son Heung-Min to score the first goal does, however, suggest that we think we will win.

In fact, this is something of a hedge. Sonny has drifted to what looks to be a reasonable price and we’re simply taking advantage. Completing the set of prop bets is the one-goal winning margin and, once again, this has risen to decent odds.

Attention is focused elsewhere right now with the potential signing of Gareth Bale but, in the meantime, there is the business of trying to get something from this fixture from a set of misfiring players. Let’s just hope Sunday sees us sign off on what could be a memorable weekend.