John Welsh
What: UEFA Europa League
Who: Tottenham vs Lyon
When: Thursday 14th February, 20.05 UK time
Live on: ITV1
Tottenham begin the knockout stage of the Europa League with a home leg against a Lyon team which has lost two successive matches in Ligue 1.
Spurs maintained their drive for Champions League qualification with a hard-earned 2-1 win against Newcastle at the weekend. Without a match this coming weekend, they may field a full strength team here and are quoted at 1.75 (4/5) with Blue Square for victory. They have not lost a home fixture since early November, having recorded six wins from eight and won two of three homes games in the group stage, drawing 0-0 in the other match.
With Jermaine Defoe injured, Spurs opted to play Clint Dempsey up front against Newcastle, after Emmanuel Adebayor returned late from the African Nations Cup. Adebayor may start here and is 2.70 (17/10) with Betvictor to score in a match which should also feature in-form Gareth Bale. In each of his last three games not only has he netted but has also been the last goalscorer and is 5.00 (4/1) with Betvictor to continue this sequence. Clint Dempsey is 3.00 (2/1) with Betvictor to score a goal and continue a good recent run.
Lyon arrive at White Hart Lane having suffered two 3-1 defeats in French Ligue 1 action in the last two weekends. Prior to this they had won two successive away matches and were challenging PSG for the title. They are a large 5.25 (17/4) with Betvictor to claim victory here and can point to the group stage where they recorded two wins and a draw from their away legs.
While Lyon's form has been fairly mixed during this campaign, so has been the performance of their strikers. Leading marksman Bafetimbi Gomis was demoted to the substitute's bench on Sunday and has only scored once in the previous five league matches. Gomis is 2.75 (7/4) at Ladbrokes to rediscover his scoring form and on the three recent occasions when he has netted, he has been the last goalscorer, for which Betfred quote him at 8.00 (7/1). Argentinian Lisandro Lopez is second in the scoring charts and converted a penalty at the weekend. He is 3.50 (5/2) with Ladbrokes to net at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham may continue their good recent form and win this match by a two-goal winning margin, which is quoted at 5.50 (9/2) at Ladbrokes. Only one team to score is 2.15 (23/20) at Coral.
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