FA Cup / Michael Lintorn / 06 March 2012 /

Spurs trail Liverpool by the slimmest margin in the FA Cup winner market, but a professional but unemphatic triumph over Stevenage might alter that...

Tottenham v Stevenage, Wednesday 19:45, ESPN, Match odds: Tottenham [1.21], Stevenage [20.0], The Draw [7.6]

It was the goalless draw at Broadhall Way in the initial instalment of this FA Cup fifth round tie that sapped Tottenham of all momentum ahead of the defeats to Arsenal and Manchester United which killed off their Premier League title challenge.

However, as is often the case for a lower-league team who manage to produce the performance of a lifetime in a glamorous cup game, Stevenage have suffered just as badly since their first heroic showing in front of the cameras.

Having entered that on a run of eight victories in ten, they suddenly find themselves winless in five. This is also the fourth straight midweek in which they have played - Spurs' far larger squad have had the last four off - so finding the energy to frustrate the Lilywhites will be far more difficult this time.

For their part, Tottenham have never lost three in a row under Harry Redknapp. The last time that they were in this position was in September 2009, when after being toppled by positional rivals Manchester United and Chelsea they took out anger on Preston with a 5-1 annihilation.

It all indicates that those laying Spurs at [1.22] could be in for a disappointing evening. Indeed, with the winners of this replay hosting Bolton in the quarter-finals, this is arguably an ideal period to back them outright to lift the cup at [3.9].

Over/under 2.5 goals

Opta offer a remarkable statistic about this encounter: that in their combined eight matches in this season's competition, neither Tottenham nor Stevenage have conceded a goal, pointing to under 2.5 goals as a great bet at huge odds of [3.1]. Spurs are [2.04] to maintain their clean-sheet streak.

The visitors haven't lost by more than two goals since last February at Bury, and their last reverse by a three-goal margin in 90 minutes prior to that came back in 2008, so with Redknapp's side scoring only four in their last four FA Cup fixtures, don't expect a thrashing.

First goalscorer

Opta note that Jermain Defoe has scored eight goals in his last 11 FA Cup starts, and the striker has a fair chance of being picked here after netting off the bench against Manchester United. He is around [4.4] to break the deadlock, a price worth taking if he starts.

Best Bet: Tottenham to keep a clean sheet @ [2.04]
Other Recommended Bet: Under 2.5 goals @ [3.1]

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