Televised Match Previews / Dan Fitch / 24 January 2009 / Leave a comment

Spurs are still in shock after almost going out to Burnley in the Carling Cup, are missing key players through injury and Harry Redknapp has said the FA Cup is little more than an afterthought. Which all points to a pretty painless passage to the next round for Man Utd, says Dan Fitch.

It's not often that a side reaches a domestic cup final and still manages to make themselves a laughing stock. Tottenham achieved this rare and dubious distinction, as they scraped past Burnley in the Carling Cup semi final on Wednesday night.

In my preview of the second leg clash between Burnley and Spurs, I pointed out that if any team is capable of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, then it's Tottenham. A completely inept performance almost saw this prophecy come true, until late finishes from Pavlyuchenko and Defoe, saw Spurs on their way to Wembley.

After such a pathetic display, it's surely then inevitable that Tottenham will not just lose the Carling Cup final to Manchester United, but also the Saturday evening FA Cup fourth round encounter at Old Trafford?

Strangely, the statistics show that Tottenham might actually put up a good fight. Spurs are unbeaten against any of the 'Big Four' this season. They have drawn away at London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea, while also beating Liverpool twice at White Hart Lane and recently held Manchester United to a 0-0 home draw.

Unfortunately for Tottenham, it looks as if they will have very few players available, from those that achieved these results. The likes of Gomes, Corluka, King, Dawson, Woodgate, O'Hara, Lennon and Jenas all appear as if they will be injured for the weekend. Pavlyuchenko is still not 100% fit, while Darren Bent withdrew from the Burnley game with an injury. It all points to a severely weakened side from Spurs.

Harry Redknapp has already admitted as much, conceding that getting a team together for the Stoke game remains his priority. So it's possible that even the players who faced Burnley, who are still fit, could be rested. This will be welcome news to United, who are also struggling with injuries.

Alex Ferguson will definitely be without the services of Evra, Rafael Da Silva, Evans, Anderson, Rooney and Brown, with Hargreaves ruled out for the rest of the season. There are also major doubts on the fitness of Ferdinand, Nani, Neville and Giggs. This could leave United with just O'Shea and Vidic to choose from, of their regular first team defenders.

Of course, United have much greater strength in depth than Tottenham. They are still able to field the likes of Scholes, Carrick, Park, Ronaldo, Berbatov and Tevez. Players like these are likely to wreak havoc, against what will surely be the most makeshift of Tottenham defences.

Ronaldo should be the favourite to open the scoring, when the first goalscorer market is priced up on Betfair, nearer to kick off. The Portuguese forward is likely to be priced at around at [5.5], with Berbatov at around the [6.0] mark and Tevez [6.5].

Obviously it still something of a mystery, as to who will start up front for Spurs, but Defoe should be around [11.0] to net first, with the on-loan from United, Frazier Campbell at [14.0]. The substitute appearance of Adel Taarabt provided one of the few positive notes in the Burnley match and he might be worth keeping an eye on in this market. Taarabt would probably be priced at around [30].

With both teams likely to field makeshift defences, then there could be plenty of goals in this match. Over 2.5 goals is [1.76], with unders at [2.28]. Over 3.5 can be backed at [2.84] and over 4.5 is [5.6].

Aside from the fact that Tottenham will be fielding a team mostly comprised of kids and no-hopers, they also have a terrible record at Old Trafford. The last time they won there was back in 1989. Even taking into account their home games against United, you have to go back to 2001 for the last Spurs win.

Manchester United are the [1.36] favourites, with the draw at [5.6] and Tottenham at [11.0]. It's hard to predict anything other than a United win and they can be backed at a good value price of [2.02] to be winning half time/full time.

United are also [2.02] to keep a clean sheet, in contrast to the price of [9.6] for Tottenham to not concede. A 2-1 win for United is [9.4], with 3-1 at [12.5] and 3-0 at [10.5].

One area where Spurs may come out on top is in the bookings match bet market. It looks like they will have an inexperienced team out, who will be looking to prove more competitive than those that faced Burnley. This could lead to some rash challenges against the likes of Ronaldo.

Spurs are the [1.85] favourites to win the bookings match bet. They might have to be content with that.