Tottenham v Sheffield United: Spurs should be too strong even for giant killing Blades

Tottenham Hotspur v Sheffield United
Wednesday, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports 1

Match Odds

Without playing their best football this season, Tottenham have quietly gone about their business and sit in sixth place in the Premier League, just three points off fourth spot. After a fairly slow start - they were in 12th after 12 games - Spurs have put a good run of form together and with the likes of Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane they look capable of scoring against anyone. 

One of the clear impacts Mauricio Pochettino has made is getting this team to grind out results and play right up until the 90th minute - demonstrated no better than Eriksen's late goal against Sunderland on Saturday, the fourth winner the Dane has scored this season.

Although Sheffield United are 18 points off the pace in League One this season, their cup calibre certainly shouldn't be underestimated. The Blades have beaten five Premier League teams in cup competition since the start of last season - including in-form West Ham and Southampton on the way to this semi-final. In fact, they have only lost two of the 19 cup games they've played since Nigel Clough took over as manager.

The result of this game could depend on how much Pochettino rotates his squad. After all, this will be the sixth of Tottenham's nine January fixtures. However, even with a weakened side, Spurs - unbeaten in nine at home - should be a class above their League One opponents and are rightly fancied at short odds of 1.374/11 to win over the 90 minutes.

Half-time/Full-time

With such short odds on a home win, we have to look elsewhere for value. As mentioned above, Spurs have a real habit of leaving things late this season. In fact, Pochettino's men have won 10 points with goals scored in the 88th minute or later in the Premier League, more than any other club. Another trend that jumps out is that Spurs have been level going into half-time in each of their last four games, going on to win three of those. 

Although the home side are strongly fancied over 90 minutes, a confident Blades team could well provide a few problems for them early on. With this being a first leg too, I would expect the opening stages to be cagier than usual and therefore a draw going into half-time is not beyond the realms of possibility.

As the game wears on, Spurs are likely to open up and their superior fitness should pay off in the latter stages and capitalise with a trademark late goal or two. Therefore a Draw/Spurs win at odds of 4.57/2 in the HT/FT market is a good option.

First Goalscorer

He may not be the most popular man at White Hart Lane but there is no doubt that Emmanuel Adebayor is a class act. After a spell of compassionate leave the Togolese forward made his first substitute appearance since early November on Saturday and is tipped to start here.

It's worth waiting until the line-up is announced before kick-off, but if Adebayor is on the teamsheet then he is worth backing to open the scoring at 5.59/2 or better.

Recommended Bets
Back Draw/Spurs in HT/FT @ 4.57/2
Back Emmanuel Adebayor as first goalscorer @ 5.59/2 or better(if he starts)

You can follow Evan on Twitter @ev_bartlett

Follow the link the Sheffield United v Spurs Betting Preview for the second leg of this Capital One Cup tie.