Tonight sees the second potential upset involving a London club as Tottenham host minnows Stevenage following an unimpressive 0-0 draw in the first leg. Chelsea avoided embarassment last night with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Birmingham and Harry Redknapp will be hoping his side illustrate the same professionalism and composure over their League 1 opponents. The home side are 1/5 favourites (bet £5 get £6 back) with Ladbrokes whereas Stevenage are long at 16/1 with bet365. A draw after 90 minutes is priced up at 11/2 with BETFRED.
Match Schedule>>>
Tottenham Hotspur v Stevenage
2012 FA Cup19.30 GMT
Harry Redknapp has not had a moments peace in the last couple of weeks. First of all he had to defend some of his actions in court and eventually was found not guilty. Then, with the demise of the Capello era of English football, he now seems to be everyone's favourite to take over the role. He's english, a fantastic manager and definitely won't put up with any rubbish from an England side of playboys and hooligans. For now, however, he has a loyalty to Tottenham to uphold and he will want to make sure all the speculation reagrding the international managerial position is not too distracting. He does have duties to attend to first and the FA Cup is a very winnable tournament for his strong squad. The team tonight may be shaken up somewhat from the side that lost to Manchester United; Gareth Bale returns from injury and William Gallas should also be available. On the other hand Ledley King will be rested, Tom Huddlestone is ruled out with an ankle injury and maestro Rafael Van der Vaart is doubtful.
The FA Cup is a fantastic tournament because of the opportunities such as this one. Stevenage can now travel to the atmospheric stadium that is White Hart Lane and play without any expectations. No doubt manager Gary Smith will be looking to spring a tactical surpise or two as his side are now the only League 1 team left in the tournament. They will need to recreate some of the enthusiasm and determination which earnt them a draw at the Lanex Stadium in February.
Tottenham have been prolific going forward all season and thus the Over/Under market is of particular interest. Stevenage have an incredible defensive record in this tournament as they have not yet conceded however bookies are predicitng this statistic to change come tonight. One can back over 2 goals at 3/20 and under 2 goals at 9/2, both with bet365. Going to more extreme betting, if the Stevenage floodgates are to open then punters may be tempted by odds of 4/1 for over 4.5 goals to be scored BETVICTOR. In the half-time/full-time market a Spurs/Spurs result is the favourite at 4/9 with Ladbrokes. The least likely result is Spurs/Stevenage which would reward brave punters kindly with odds of 150/1 with Paddy Power.
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