Televised Premier League Preview: Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa

Premier League / Richard Walker / 15 September 2008 / Leave a Comment

With intriguing debuts and the possibility of lots of goals, Spurs v Villa is a mouthwatering prospect and a great advert for the Premier League, says Ricahrd Walker.

Tonight is the kind of match-up that confirms why our top-flight football is such a draw both inside and outside of the UK.

Setanta will be broadcasting a game which doesn't involve any of the 'Big Four', yet will almost without question be a great advert for the Premier League product; pace of the game, endeavour, commitment to play for three points from both sides and, lest we forget, no little skill to boot. Spurs against Villa is a mouth-watering prospect.

Do you remember the corresponding game last season? Martin Jol, a dead man walking by that stage, saw his side fall 4-1 behind having taken the lead, only for a Lazarus-like revival to end with Younis Kaboul firing home a 96th-minute equaliser for 4-4.

I'm not quite sure it'll be four each tonight - but without question I think there'll be goals. It's [1.81] to back Over 2.5 in that market, however show a little more adventure and back Over 3.5 goals at about [3.0] or even [5.9], the odds to back Over 4.5 goals.

Neither manager is an exponent of the art of getting his side to sit back and defend, however the likely destination of the three points will probably be determined by which of these two attack-minded teams can defend better than the other. Backers in the match odds market have the following choices: Spurs at [2.2], The Draw [3.5] and Villa - which is my tentative suggestion - available at [3.75].

Despite the arrival, somewhat overshadowed by international week, of Croatian Vedran Corluka and Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, I think this Spurs team is still missing something. Dunno what exactly, perhaps it might be they just haven't put all the pieces together just yet. With two débutants likely, it could be Tottenham take a while to warm to the task so consider backing Villa to be leading at half-time at odds of roughly [4.4].

The Match Odds are also reflected in the Half-Time/Full-Time market. Tottenham/Tottenham is a [3.75] chance to back, with Draw/Tottenham coming in at around [6.2]. Having set my stall out, though, I'll be leaning towards Villa/Villa [6.8] and Draw/Villa [9.6] for I fear Spurs' lacklustre start to the campaign might just continue for a couple of games yet.

All this is not to take away from Tottenham's transfer activity. Okay they don't splash mega-bucks around, but their recruitment policy seems sound and, just running your eye down their squad, it is, genuinely, packed full of quality. Yet quietly, perhaps deliberately so, Martin O'Neill has assembled a rich mixture of established senior professionals and extremely promising youngsters.

The To Score (at any time) market shows just how many goalscoring options each side has, with as many as 10 players at the [7.0] mark or shorter to back. Sticking with the Villa theme, my selections here are penalty-taker Gareth Barry - a [7.0] chance - or the [5.8] on the visitor's set-piece specialist Ashley Young.

I suggested Robinho should be backed in this market at the weekend so I suppose, to continue a theme, if you're of a Spurs persuasion for this one, Pavlyuchenko - at [2.88] to score sometime on his début - might well be tempting enough to get involved. Have a look at this market, there's always some interesting options.

The more traditional First Goalscorer market sees the Russian listed at a healthier [7.2] and, while Robinho did indeed notch first at Eastlands, how likely is it that the same should happen tonight? His likely partner, Darren Bent, is a [8.0] shot to back while, for the opposition, Gabby Agbonlahor [9.4] and John Carew [9.6] are the leading protagonists.

Trying to find a Correct Score will be pretty treacherous. Three-two either way is where my modest investment will end up, the odds for which are [46.0] about 2-3 and [30.0] about 3-2. Although it's unlikely to be the out-and-out goal fest of last term, the Any Unquoted option - which covers any score where a number four or higher is involved - looks a tempting proposition at about [8.6] to back.

Neither side has much in the way of an injury list to concern itself with, and I reckon that's part of the appeal of the game this evening. Two sides free from hindrances - and excuses - going at it toe-to-toe under the White Hart Lane lights. Given the efforts of both clubs to better themselves, this game warrants your attention tonight.