Saturday 14 September, 15:00
Spurs need a confidence booster ahead of tough run
Following an international break in which he has scored two winners for England, been nominated for the Ballon d'Or and been linked with another mega money move to Real Madrid, it seems remiss not to mention the remarkable run of form Harry Kane is currently enjoying.
The 24-year-old is scoring for fun (15 in 10 appearances) and doesn't look like stopping any time soon. The forward is central to everything Spurs do and they will need him to carry on playing like he is if they are to overcome the five point gap already opened up by the table-topping Manchester clubs.
The common criticism of Mauricio Pochettino during his time in north London has been a failure to pick up any silverware - and the next few weeks could go a long way to showing how close his side are to achieving that this season. Spurs face the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal in the league and a double-header with Real Madrid in Europe in the space of their next eight fixtures. But first they will face Bournemouth hoping to pick up a morale-boosting win with aplomb.
Cherries struggling for form
Bournemouth have suffered a wretched start to the season, winning just one game from their opening seven. Manager Eddie Howe has been slightly shielded by just how awful Crystal Palace - the only side below them in the table - have performed, although his previous record of excellence also gives him more wiggle room than others.
The south coast club backed their manager in the summer and spent big on the likes of Nathan Ake and Asmir Begovic and handed Jermain Defoe a bumper three-year contract. But the new signings have had limited impact and the club - with defeats to the likes of West Brom, Watford and an out-of-form Everton - sit in 19th spot.
November's run of fixtures - against Newcastle, Huddersfield, Swansea and Burnley - should see them rise up the table, but first they have this tough trip to Wembley and a visit from Chelsea to deal with.
Can Spurs end the enduring Wembley curse?
After the last international break Spurs travelled to Goodison Park and stuck three on Everton before beating Dortmund at Wembley in one of their most exciting games of the season so far.
There are certainly no concerns about a hangover then, but what has been more puzzling is their form at Wembley. Spurs have failed to win any of their three opening home league games at the national stadium but continue to be in scintillating form away from it - winning all four league games on the road this season.
They will be confident of ending that home run here though, having put 12 past Bournemouth in their past four meetings with just one in reply - and, of course, Kane was responsible for six of those efforts.
Spurs are understandably short priced favourites to win at odds of 1.22 while Bournemouth are available at a whopping 16.50. The draw trades at 8.00
What is more of a surprise however is that Spurs are odds-against to win to nil - Pochettino's men are currently available at 11/10 on the Sportsbook for that outcome. Spurs have had the best defence in the country for the past two seasons and have the most in-form marksman to boot. The Cherries have scored just four goals in seven.
Goals look likely - but only at one end
The markets clearly fancy some goalmouth action in this one, with Over 2.5 Goals trading at just 1.44. But Over 3.5 may be more tempting at 2.10.
Bournemouth are certainly no 'Harry Kane team'
Harry Kane has scored 36 competitive goals in 2017 from 147 shots. That's the same number of goals as Bournemouth - but they've taken 224 shots more. You can get on Kane to be first goalscorer at 2.96.
Jermain Defoe has averaged a goal every 798 minutes versus Tottenham in the Premier League, his worst ratio against all 36 sides that he's scored against in the competition. He can be backed at 3.75 to score at any time.
Ref watch
The man in charge for this one is Bobby Madley. The Yorkshireman has dished out four red cards and 27 yellows in his six games so far this season so the Spurs and Bournemouth players had better be on best behaviour.
Recommended bets
Back Tottenham win to nil @ 11/10 on the Sportsbook
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