Tottenham v Sheffield Utd: Blades good for exactly one goal

Jamie Pacheco explains why Sheffield United are good for exactly one goal and which Spurs forward is the one to side with to on the anytime scorer market.

Tottenham v Sheffield United
Saturday November 9, 15:00

Midweek win a big boost

It's a shame for Spurs fans that they can't play Red Star Belgrade every week. A 5-0 home win a couple of weeks ago was followed by a 4-0 away one on Wednesday night, meaning Spurs are almost certainly through to the next round of the Champions League, although they'll probably have to settle for a runner-up spot.

It's been a different story in the Premier League. It's now five matches without a win for Spurs and 11th isn't the sort of position they normally find themselves in.

Heung-Min Son is available to play after his red card (in the Andre Gomes incident) was rightfully rescinded and he reminded us all of what Spurs might be missing if he had been unable to play, by scoring twice in Belgrade.

Jan Vertonghen, Hugo Lloris and Erik Lamela miss out through injury.

How high can the Blades finish?

Just when you think teams might just be starting to work Sheffield United out, they prove us wrong. After a series of low-scoring wins and draws they beat Burnley 3-0, showing for the first time this season that they can do more than just nick wins; they can secure comfortable ones as well.

The 16 points the Blades have already will go a long way to helping them reach their primary objective of not being relegated. But if this carries on, a top 10 finish isn't out of the question. It's a 3.50 chance on the Exchange.

Among the star performers are forward Lys Mousset who has three goals and three assists, all-action goalscoring midfielder John Lundstram and keeper Dean Henderson. There may be some inquiries about those three in the summer.

Decent reasons to oppose Spurs

Tottenham's performance against Red Star has see them cut to 1.61 from an opening price of 1.70.

You could make a case for that being an attractive price at which to lay the hosts. United are three points better off than Spurs and are in far better form, having taken eight points from their last four matches, compared to Tottenham's two. As mentioned, Harry Kane and his teammates haven't won any of their past five and that run included playing the likes of Watford and Brighton, so it's not like they're only struggling against the very best.

An actual win for the Blades, which is 6.40, is pretty unlikely given they've now gone 17 games in the PL without winning in London, so you could say there's more value in the draw at 4.40 than the Spurs lay if you want to oppose the hosts.

Blades good for exactly one goal

I wouldn't put anyone off backing both teams to score at 4/5. It's hard to imagine Spurs not getting one and, given it's six in a row without a clean sheet for Tottenham and that United have scored in four of their last five, you'd think the visitors may well get one, too.

But they're unlikely to get more than one. Opta tell us that just once in their last 15 home games have Spurs conceded more than once (2-2 v Everton in May 2019) so I prefer Sheffield to score exactly one goal at 7/5.

Alli can strike again

Harry Kane missed out on scoring in midweek after recovering from illness and has good reasons to want to score here. He's scored against every other Premier League side he's played against (28) so that would be a pretty cool record to keep going. It's 2/1 he scores first and 4/7 he scores anytime but both prices offer no value at all.

If it's the first goalscorer you want to play, a good alternative would be Son at 4/1. He may be feeling sick over what happened last Sunday at Everton, but his performance on Wednesday and two goals suggested it's not going to affect his game.

But I prefer Dele Alli to score anytime at 13/5. He had an uncharacteristically poor start to the season, partly caused by a hamstring injury and general exhaustion after two or three seasons of virtually no proper rest. But he's looked sharp since returning to full fitness. He scored at Goodison Park last week and the fact he was subbed after 60-odd minutes in Belgrade suggests Mauricio Pochettino is planning to start him here. It's a fair price.