Tottenham travel to Old Trafford on Sunday for what promises to be a Premier League thriller with Manchester United but first they are engaged in more mundane affairs as they start their Europa League campaign.
Spurs entertain Qarabag in north London and it should result in a routine victory against a side making the long hike from Azerbaijan, which will build on the 3-1 victory at home to Brentford last Saturday.
That result put the smiles back on the faces of Tottenham fans after a miserable four-day span when they lost to Arsenal then needed two late goals from Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson to avoid a humiliating Carabao Cup exit at Championship club Coventry.
Ange Postecoglou’s team received criticism for failing to break down the Gunners defence in the second half of the North London derby only for Manchester City to suffer similar issues when Arsenal visited the Etihad Stadium last weekend, and instead of having a pop at the Spurs attack critics should acknowledge the Gunners possess a well drilled, disciplined defence that is the best in the league.
The way Tottenham dismantled the Bees was similar to their performances against Leicester and Newcastle – but with added goals – and they will be fine if they continue in this vein of form.
Brennan Johnson (left) has hit the net in Spurs’ last two matches (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)
Former Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke got on the scoresheet against Brentford for the first time since his move to N17 and he should start against Qarabag as he still needs to blend with his new team-mates.
The ex-Liverpool and Chelsea forward is 23/5 with Unibet, BetUK and BetMGM to break the deadlock and 27/25 with the same firms to score at any time.
Spurs are no better than 1/6 with bet365 to win and although they should gain maximum points it may be worth having a flutter on the visitors in the handicap markets.
The numerous changes Postecoglou made for the Carabao Cup tie with Coventry didn’t work well and Qarabag were close to beating Bayer Leverkusen in the knockout stages last year before surrendering two injury-time goals, and a small investment is worthwhile on them to win +2.5 goals at 4/6 with William Hill. A 2-0 home win is 13/2 with William Hill, bet365 and Betfred.
• The New York Giants appear to have struck gold by selecting speedy wide receiver Malik Nabers as the sixth pick in this year’s NFL draft. He scored a couple of touchdowns in Sunday’s win at the Cleveland Browns and he’s 10/1 with Paddy Power and Betfair to register the first TD in Thursday Night Football’s showdown at home to division rivals the Dallas Cowboys. Nabers is 7/5 with the same firms to put six points on the board at any time.
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