Without being too harsh, both Tottenham and Manchester United have had better days than what they did on Sunday; although the manner of United’s defeat most likely overshadowed how disappointed and low Spurs were feeling following their loss.
But regardless of any amount of lack of goals, or even shots, from Spurs last weekend, that’s put into insignificance by United’s horrific 5-0 home thrashing by hated rivals Liverpool, which could, and should, have been much, much worse. But it was bad enough for Sir Alex Ferguson to pay a visit to the training ground this week, although it’s doubtful that even his hairdryer treatment would make a difference to this United squad at this point in time.
United have collected just one point from their last four league games and the knives are well and truly out for the Norwegian boss, which is hardly surprising, and his odds suggest he’s the next manager to get sacked (currently leading the sack race at 2/5 with William Hill). However, rumours have it that Ole has been given three more games to turn things around; meanwhile, his counterpart in the home dugout Nuno Espirito Santo also finds himself under serious pressure, as he’s currently fourth in the sack race at 14/1.
As expected, following a result as damaging as Man United’s, the price for Ole’s men to grab three points at Tottenham’s stadium this weekend continue to drift; having originally been priced at 11/10 they’ve experienced a 6% swing and find themselves around the 17/12 mark with BetVictor, yet they’re remain the favourites as Spurs find themselves at 2/1 outsiders; and although Spurs haven’t had a much better run than Man United, they’ve won three out of their four home games this season and beaten Man City at home.
So while the ‘big six’ may no longer be a viable term in terms of quality of the teams, considering these two teams are currently six and seventh in the league, with Spurs just a point ahead of United, an overarching theme, betting-wise, so far this season has been the shortening of the draw in the games involving the traditional ‘big six’. And given the turmoil these two sides are in at present, it’s not surprising that the odds for a draw on Saturday have gone from 11/4 at the beginning of the week to just 2/1 with SBK; and we may see these odds getting even shorter as we get closer to game day.
But the value betting-wise could be on a home win and for both teams to score, with United surely set to have a go after the week they’ve had at 9/2 with William Hill.
As for players. Cristiano Ronaldo who had a goal disallowed in last week’s disaster against Liverpool, but he’s still clearly United’s main threat and is 13/10 with BetVictor to score in the capital. Meanwhile, Harry Kane who’s been labelled disappointing this season, despite scoring 10 times in 16 games, is set to make the most of a disjointed Man United defence and he’s 29/20 to score Saturday.
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