The smart money is on Young Boys to win or draw & wreck Spurs Champions League dream
Tottenham 1.16; Draw 5.71; Young Boys 12.53
After so nearly seeing 38 games hard work go up in smoke in Switzerland last Tuesday, Tottenham return to grass at White Hart Lane knowing that a win should send them through to the glamour and riches of the Champions League group stages.
The first 30 minutes of the first leg saw Young Boys demolish Spurs who froze in their first Champions League game for close to 40 years and so nearly destroyed all the success of 2009/2010. Senad Lulic, Henri Bienvanu and Xavier Hochstrasser were all on target for Young Boys and but for some wayward finishing the deficit could be a lot greater.
Goals from Sebastien Bassong and a rocket from Roman Pavlyuchenko mean Spurs are still the favourites to progress but you can be certain Harry Redknapp and his coaching staff will not under estimate Young Boys again.
Tottenham picked up a fine morale boosting win at Stoke on Saturday and will have an extra days rest compared to Young Boys who played on Sunday, which could come into play if the second leg goes into extra time. If Spurs win 3-2 after 90 minutes, the tie would go into extra time and then Vladimir Petkovics team would hold a significant advantage in the last 30 minutes.
Gareth Bale was the star of the Britannia with a two-goal haul that secured Tottenhams second successive win at Stoke. One of the dilemmas facing Harry Redknapp is whether to start the Welshman from a deep left back position, where he was much more effective in the first leg or play Bale higher up where he scored two goals against Stoke.
Injuries from playing on the synthetic pitch may give Redknapp a relatively straight forward team selection. Luka Modric, Jermain Defoe, Giovani Dos Santos, Robbie Keane and Roman Pavlyuchenko are all rate! d doubtf ul for the second leg which means Peter Crouch will certainly start either on his own or with Defoe who Arry said probably has the best chance, but the others could be struggling.
Ledley King will start in the centre of defence after he was rested for the trip to Stoke and Jermaine Jenas may have played himself into contention with a decent performance in the Premier League match. Niko Kranjcar will also be pushing for inclusion after impressing in Switzerland otherwise Spurs will be relying on Lennon and Bale down the wings and Tom Huddlestone to control the game as he did when coming on in the first leg.
Whilst he may have got them to the Promised Land, Harry Redknapp struggled tacticallyin his first Champions League game. Playing two out-and-out strikers away from home in Roman Pavlyuchenko and Jermain Defoe was suicide and just two central midfielders gave way too much room to playmaker Moreno Costanzo and whilst Spurs will undoubtedly push forward at every opportunity they should be wary of the sucker punch.
Young Boys picked up another win on their plastic pitch on Sunday, a 1-0 victory over FC Zurich. David Degen, twin brother of Philipp was the match winner with a strike midway through the second half.
Whilst they struggled somewhat defensively throughout the first leg, in keeper Marco Wolfli they have an experienced number one, captain of the side, and a custodian who if he has the game of his life, could keep Spurs at bay.
Ivorian midfielder Thierry Doubai was impressive in the first game and playmaker Moreno Costanzo was rested for the first 65 minutes of the win over Zurich on Sunday. Cameroon striker Henri Bienvanu had the legs on Michael Dawson and Sebatien Bassong in the first leg and could be hugely dangerous on the break.
The crowd will undoubtedly be a great asset to Spurs, Young Boys can expect a cauldron of noise at White Hart Lane for the biggest match there in living memory. But the Swiss team won 1-0 away at Fenerbahce in the last round after dra! wing at home in the first leg so should be prepared for their trip to London.
Tottenham should heed the memory of their UEFA Cup defeat to Sevilla in April 2007 when they came away with a respectable 2-1 defeat in Spain only to concede two goals in the opening seven minutes of the second leg the Lilywhites can ill afford another slow start.
After the first leg another dramatic night seems almost a certainty. The value betting wise comes backing a draw or a Young Boys win and Spurs dont always win when they are expected to
101gg predicts: Tottenham 2 Young Boys 2
Tottenham 1.16; Draw 5.71; Young Boys 12.53
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