Tottenham vs FC Basel: Spurs to continue march towards glory

4Apr 2013

Europa Liga

Tottenham's excellent home form has taken them to the last eight of the Europa League, and Kevin Hatchard expects their success to continue against a dogged but limited FC Basel.

Tottenham Hotspur vs FC Basel, Thu 20:05 BST, Live on ITV1

Match Odds: Spurs 1.42, Basel 9.6, the draw 5.1

Having survived a needlessly dramatic second leg against Inter Milan in the previous round, Tottenham are still on course to win their first European trophy since 1984. Manager Andre Villas-Boas has consistently picked strong teams, and despite a crucial Premier League game against Everton this Sunday, I would expect him to do so again. That means Gareth Bale will start, and such is his superstar status, he is trading at a miserly 1.71 in the To Score market.

Spurs do have some personnel issues. Kyle Walker is suspended, while Jermain Defoe will miss both legs with a muscle strain. That means Emmanuel Adebayor can continue this season's grand experiment - how many goals can a striker score when putting in the minimum effort possible?

Villas-Boas has rightly suggested that Spurs have better players than FC Basel, but he has warned his players against complacency against a tough outfit with plenty of experience. The Swiss outfit have raised a few eyebrows by dumping out Dnipro in the last 32 and beating Zenit in the last 16. Their success has been built on gritty defending. They held onto an aggregate success away to Zenit despite playing the whole second half with just ten men, and they have kept six clean sheets in ten Europa League games this term. That said, most of those shut-outs were at home, and they haven't yet faced a team that attacks with the speed and ferocity that Spurs do. FC Basel have the worst disciplinary record in the competition (23 yellow cards, three reds), which suggests they aren't great at timing their tackles, and I think Spurs will cause them real problems when they break in numbers.

Spurs' home record in the Europa League has been outstanding, with four wins and a draw. Despite Basel's ability to grind out results, they are yet to win away from home in the competition, and it's hard to see them causing an upset. Spurs are understandably short for the home win, but backing them -1.5 on the Asian Handicap boosts the price to a more inviting 2.16.

Best Bet

Back Spurs -1.5 on the Asian Handicap at 2.16