Tottenham v Man Utd: Goals quotes look too high at Spurs | OneFootball

EFL Cup

Ruben Amorim can set United up to nullify Spurs

Manchester United road games aren't high-scoring so Dave Tindall is playing Unders on the goals for Thursday night's Carabao Cup clash at Spurs...

Tottenham's mad season continues

If viewed in isolation, Tottenham's 4-0 win at Manchester City and 5-0 success at Southampton (all five goals scored in the first 45 minutes) suggest they're a wild, swashbuckling team capable of highs that every fanbase would love to see.

Except between those two high points, they lost to Bournemouth and Chelsea while drawing with Roma, Fulham and Rangers. Tottenham played some pretty dreadful stuff in those five games, making Ange Postecoglou a prime target for angry phone-in merchants.

In this tournament, they've come from 1-0 down to beat Coventry 2-1 with goals in the 88th and 90th minutes and edged out Manchester City 2-1 before everyone knew Pep Guardiola's men were in a massive decline.

A quarter-final on their own patch looks an ideal draw to have received but they've lost as many home games this season as Leicester and one more than Everton. If punters weren't confused enough, they now have to work out how Spurs will perform against the Premier League's other most unpredictable team.

United on a high after late derby win

It looked for the world that United would come into this one on the back of another morale-sapping loss as they trailed local rivals City in the derby with two minutes to play.

A third straight Premier League defeat beckoned after the losses to Nottingham Forest and Arsenal but thanks to Amad Diallao, who won a penalty before guiding home a thrilling winner, the Red Devils somehow emerged on a giddy high.

As with Spurs though, fans are left with one big question: what happens next?

To be fair, United have at least been very decisive in this tournament, blasting League One Barnsley 7-0 under Erik ten Hag and scoring a 5-2 win over Leicester with Ruud van Nistelrooy in temporary charge.

But both those games were at Old Trafford and now they face an away tie with a new manager at the helm.

Tottenham slight favourites

Down to nothing more than home advantage it would seem, Spurs are narrowly favoured. The market shows Tottenham 13/10, Man Utd 17/10 and The Draw 14/5.

Head-to-head form can be spun either way. Tottenham won 3-0 at Old Trafford earlier this season and are unbeaten in their last four against United. Postecoglou's side also won the home league meeting last year but before that United had won three and drawn two of their previous five trips to Spurs.

Punters would be very forgiven for not playing the match market - especially as neither side is a particularly appealing or value price.

There's certainly plenty on the line here in terms of it being a golden chance for the two managers to win silverware.

Both sides have no chance of winning the Premier League while United have an away trip to Arsenal in round three of the FA Cup. Tottenham have Tamworth.

Europe still offers possibilities but having reached the last eight, this competition now offers a genuine shot at silverware.

United stats scream Unders

Given the stakes, perhaps this will be tighter than the market expects. Unders backers basically have an extra goal to play with as Under 3.5 - a 20/23 shot - is the price we'd often expect for Under 2.5.

Although there were ultimately three goals at the Etihad on Sunday, it was a game that never really threatened goals. And, of course, Under 3.5 would have landed.

Widening the view, Under 3.5 goals has landed in 11 of Manchester United's 12 away fixtures this season. That's quite a stat. Adding a filter, it's landed in every United domestic road game.

Spurs clearly have some crazy goal-laden matches in their locker but three of their last five outings have featured two or fewer so they're not the Harlem Globe Trotters.

And it's surely fair to say that Ruben Amorim has more nuance to his tactics than Postecoglou and can set United up to nullify the home threat.

Fernandes and Kulusevski appeal for Bet Builders

If playing the goalscorer markets, Bruno Fernandes certainly stands out given that he's netted six in his last 11 matches having fired blanks in his opening 13 games under ten Hag.

The Portuguese playmaker is 12/5 to find the net.

For Tottenham, Dejan Kulusevski now has three in three after wheeling away in celebration against Chelsea, Rangers and Southampton. He's 7/2 anytime which looks on the high side.

Putting both Fernandes and Kulusevski in an anytime scorer Bet Builder double pays just over 14/1.

It's worth a small play and, of course, both could score, as could someone else, and we'd still win our Under 3.5 Goals bet.

Recommended bets

1.5pts - Back Under 3.5 Goals @ 20/23

0.5pts - Back Bruno Fernandes and Dejan Kulusevski both to score on Bet Builder @ 14/1

Staked: 28pts

Returned: 25.65pts

P/L: -2.35pts

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