Southampton vs Tottenham Hotspur
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Today’s free tip is in the English Premier League encounter between Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur.
Is anyone really surprised to see all of Pochettino’s good work undone by Mourinho? I’m not. Anyone that says Mourinho is a shit manager needs a wake-up call, but it’s undeniable that he’s horribly out of his depth in the modern game. Once upon a time, he was the best in the world, and he’ll still be remembered for a long time, irrespective of what happens during his time at Tottenham Hotspur. However, he’s looking very outdated at the moment with his overly defensive approach, and has done for a lot of years now.
What baffles me is why Levy, a really smart businessman, would opt to replace such a progressive young manager with a regressive dinosaur. It just doesn’t make any sense. Mourinho will get sacked from this job, I promise you – all that remains to be seen is when that is. Based on their last few games, it could well happen before Christmas. I can’t help but wonder what it’ll cost Tottenham Hotspur, though. I don’t mean the money required to sack Mourinho, either – I mean the players that will hate playing in this negative style, and will leave the club. With the Londoners playing as they are, will the likes of Kane, Son, and Alli really stick around? I don’t see it.
On paper, Tottenham Hotspur are still a good team. It wasn’t a coincidence, their top four Premier League finish, and their UEFA Champions League runners-up spot. They earned the right to do what they did. It’s just that they’ve brought in a manager that cannot get the best out of these players, a manager who doesn’t know the difference between speaking in public and speaking in private. All he’s done lately is add defenders to an already defensive squad. This rot is not going away anytime soon, folks.
They’ll still be really annoying to deal with if they take the lead, Tottenham Hotspur, because they’re just going to sit back. Did any of you see them in Bulgaria mid-week against Lokomotiv Plovdiv? Wow! It was like going back to watching my beloved Manchester United when Mourinho was in charge – dour, limited chances, and wholly uninspired. Lokomotiv Plovdiv thrive on the support of their home fans, of which they had very few for that game for obvious reasons, and yet still, when confronted with nine men, chasing a 2-1 deficit, Mourinho still made Tottenham Hotspur time waste by passing across the back four. It’s just embarrassing, and it breeds cowardice. Not only that, but players forget how to come from behind – I saw it enough times at Manchester United. If Tottenham Hotspur fall behind in this game, I cannot see them getting anything from it, to put it bluntly.
On the flip side of the coin, I really like what Hasenhuttl has done at Southampton. He knows he doesn’t have the best of squads so has focused on making them hard to face as a collective instead of relying on individuals. I still find them to be short on the goal-scoring front – I mean, is Ings really going to have another campaign like last season? I doubt it. Adams really needs to step it up a level if he’s to do what he was signed to. Still, as a unit, I trust Southampton because I know what they’ll do to teams under the Austrian’s stewardship.
Essentially, Southampton bring intensity to games. They don’t let opponents dwell on the ball. They play good football at speed, use their fast wide threats well, and are constantly on the move. Coping with such a team is really annoying, even for big Premier League teams, and it’s pretty much the kryptonite of every Mourinho team to have ever existed. Southampton may have lost a bit too much by way of quality over the years, but this is still the best version I’ve seen of them for a while because they’re effective in what they do.
Again, goal-scoring is the concern with this team. I am optimistic that winger Djenepo will help out more on that front, assuming he can stay fit in this campaign. Redmond is out for today’s game, but Armstrong is back at least. There’s enough cohesion and confidence in this Southampton squad to trouble a Mourinho team; let me put it that way. The visitors named a full-strength squad for their UEFA Europa League game in Bulgaria so may well be more tired than usual, making it even harder to handle the Southampton press. As long as Southampton actually take one or two of the chances that they’ll unquestionably create, they should be able to get at least a draw here, and hopefully more besides.
At odds of 6/5, I cannot overlook backing a Southampton win with draw no bet cover.
Verdict: Southampton to win with draw no bet at 6/5.
Sunday’s Thoughts
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts. For confidence ratings, you’ll need to go to the members section here.
Austrian Bundesliga:
Hartberg vs Wolfsberger AC
Admira Wacker vs St. Polten
Austria Vienna vs SV Ried
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Zulte-Waregem vs Club Brugge
Standard de Liege vs Kortrijk
Racing Genk vs KV Mechelen
Antwerp vs AS Eupen
Brazilian Serie A:
Gremio vs Palmeiras
Coritiba vs Vasco da Gama
Botafogo vs Santos
Sport Recife vs Fluminense
Bulgarian A PFG:
Etar vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv
CSKA Sofia vs Ludogorets Razgrad
Croatian Prva Liga:
Varteks vs NK Osijek
Czech Republic Liga 1:
Zbrojovka Brnovs Sigma Olomouc
Slovan Liberec vs Karvina
Sparta Prague vs Zlin
Danish Superligaen:
OB vs FC Nordsjaelland
FC Copenhagen vs Brondby
Randers vs AGF
Vejle vs SonderjyskE
English Premier League:
Southampton vs Tottenham Hotspur
Leicester City vs Burnley
Newcastle United vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Chelsea vs Liverpool
Estonian Meistriliiga:
FCI Levadia Tallinn vs Nomme Kalju
Flora Tallinn vs Flora Paide
Faroese Betrideildin:
B36 Torshavn vs AB
Vikingur Gota vs Skala
HB Torshavn vs IF
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
FC Honka Espoo vs HJK
RoPS vs KuPS
Finnish Ykkonen:
SJK-Akatemia vs VPS
MyPa vs Jaro Pietarsaari
Ekenas IF vs Kajaani
AC Oulu vs KPV
Gnistan vs MuSa
MP vs KTP
French Ligue 1:
OGC Nice vs Paris Saint-Germain
Stade Brestois vs Lorient
Metz vs Stade de Reims
Montpellier HSC vs Angers SCO
Racing Club Strasbourg vs Dijon FCO
FC Nantes Atlantique vs AS Saint-Etienne (
Olympique de Marseille vs Lille OSC
German Bundesliga:
RB Leipzig vs Mainz 05
VfL Wolfsburg vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen
German Bundesliga 2:
Heidenheim vs Eintracht Braunschweig
Greuther Furth vsOsnabruck
Holstein Kiel vs Paderborn 07
Icelandic Urvalsdeild:
IA vs Grotta
Stjarnan Gardabaer vs Valur Reykjavik
Fylkir Reykjavik vs FH
Breidablik Kopavogur vs KR
Vikingur Reykjavik vs HK
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Hapoel Hadera vs Hapoel Be’er Sheva
Bnei Sakhnin vs Maccabi Haifa
Italian Serie A:
Parma vs SSC Napoli
Genoa vs Crotone
Sassuolo vs Cagliari
Juventus vs Sampdoria
Mexican Liga MX:
Toluca vs Santos Laguna
Atletico San Luis vs Monterrey
Dutch Eredivisie:
ADO Den Haag vs FC Groningen
Feyenoord Rotterdam vs FC Twente Enschede
Willem II vs Heracles Almelo
AFC Ajax Amsterdam vs RKC Waalwijk
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Start Kristiansand vs Kristiansund
Sandefjord vs Stromsgodset
Brann Bergen vs Bodo/Glimt
Viking Stavanger vs Aalesund FK
Rosenborg BK vs Haugesund
Odd vs Stabaek
Portuguese Liga 1:
Santa Clara vs Maritimo Funchal
Moreirense vs Farense
Tondela vs Rio Ave
Portuguese Liga 2:
Academica de Coimbra vs Estoril
Russian Premier League:
Arsenal Tula vs PFC Sochi
FK Ufa vs CSKA Moscow
Rubin Kazan vs Spartak Moscow
Lokomotiv Moscow vs Tambov
Spanish Primera Liga:
Huesca vs Cadiz
Real Betis Balompie vs Real Valladolid
Granada CF vs Deportivo Alaves
Real Sociedad vs Real Madrid
Swedish Allsvenskan:
AIK Solna vs Hammarby
Ostersunds FK vs Djurgarden
IFK Norrkoping vs Malmo FF
IFK Goteborg vs Kalmar FF
Swiss Super League:
FC Basel vs Vaduz
Lausanne Sport vs Servette
St. Gallen vs FC Sion
Turkish Super Lig:
BB Erzurumspor vs Sivasspor
Kasimpasa vs Rizespor (
Gazisehir Gaziantepvs Fatih Karagumruk
Istanbul BB vs Galatasaray
Enjoy your free betting tips!