With less than a fortnight to until the curtain drops on the 2021/22 Premier League season, midweek action sees the battle lines drawn at both ends of the table, and with qualification for Europe in mind, Thursday night sees a huge North London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
For Spurs, holding Liverpool to a draw at Anfield last Saturday night was a hugely creditable performance but after Arsenal’s rather anxious 2-1 over Leeds the day after, a point may not have been enough as a total of four separate the sides in the scrap for fourth spot.
Simply put, nothing else for the Lilywhites but a win will do here and to support that aim their record at home to their cross-town rivals is strong. Having won four of the last five league games over The Gunners, Arsenal have lost at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on both occasions thus far. Accordingly, Spurs are the favourites on Thursday night predictably and at 5/4 with SpreadEx.
For the last time Hackney turned red meanwhile, we have to go back to 2014’s win courtesy of Tomas Rosicky’s second-minute goal – in that season’s battle for top-four also.
Arsenal are highly motivated in this crunch clash to finally secure a return to the Champions League though, so 5/2 odds could represent value. A draw is what Arsenal would take in a heartbeat however, so a 27/10 price is also a good punt – again with SpreadEx.
For our customary scorer double, punters should look no further than a very attractive 8/1 boost with SkyBet for Harry Kane and Eddie Nketiah to register. Whilst Kane simply loves scoring against the team he supported as a boy – in total now 11 times in 14 league games – in the case of the in-form Arsenal forward meanwhile, a chance for Nketiah to etch his place as a cult figure amongst Gooners everywhere will be most appealing. Nketiah has netted four times in as many games in recent weeks and will be champing at the bit to make a similar impact as he did in west London last month when he grabbed a brace.
The alternate approach to this bet is to cover with efforts on target and for both Kane and Nketiah to have 2+ SOT during the game, Betfair have another interesting special at 7/1.
Another man the visitors must shackle also is Son Heung-min and for the Korean to score, 6/4 anytime odds with BoyleSports also should be looked at.
With a lot riding on this encounter, a game that has traditionally seen the goals flow might, on this occasion, result in a frugal contest and an under 1.5 goals price at 16/5 with SportNation might be worth consideration. If the fixture stays true to form however, BTTS and over 3.5 goals to be scored can be had at 9/4 – also with BoyleSports.
Finally, the NLD has always been a feisty encounter and with Paul Tierney in the middle, the Salford official will likely be filling up the notebook. For best shots at player cards, loose cannon Granit Xhaka can double your money at evens, whilst for Spurs, Ben Davies should be kept on his toes by Bukayo Saka and the Welsh full-back is 4/1 to see a card – both prices with SkyBet. More broadly, in what will surely be a fiery clash, 60 booking points should be breached and for a better than double-your-money tote of 11/10.
