THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE is back on Tuesday night. Daniel McCulloch (@DMcCulloch1984) analyses the odds as Tottenham take on Red Star Belgrade.
Tottenham v Red Star Belgrade | Tuesday 22nd October 2019, 20:00 | BT Sport
Halloween is still over a week away yet already this season Tottenham have lost at home to lowly Newcastle, been knocked out of the EFL Cup by League Two Colchester, lost 3-0 away to Brighton and conceded seven at home to Bayern Munich. And that is forgetting letting two goal leads slip against Arsenal and Olympiakos.
The North London side have had a lot of negative press this season, with many seeming to believe that Mauricio Pochettino and many of the other players within this Tottenham side have run their course.
For me, however, it is far too early to write them off. Yes, they’ve had a few concerning results and their have been some inexcusable performances but they still possess a lot of quality and should have too much for a Red Star Belgrade side that struggle at this level, particularly away from home.
Last season, Red Star faced Liverpool, Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain so clearly had an uphill task. To their credit, they beat Liverpool at home but they were badly beaten in each away game, losing by an aggregate of 13 goals to two and losing each match by at least two goals.
This season, they’ve already lost 3-0 away to Bayern, losing the shot count 34-7 and failed to manage a single shot on target while their opponents had 11. Simply put, they struggle to compete on the road in this company and I don’t believe they have enough quality to expose Tottenham’s deficiencies.
I doubt I will make a habit of backing Tottenham over the next few weeks but I will make an exception against a side who are such poor travellers.
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Tottenham v Red Star Belgrade – Tottenham -1.5 Asian Handicap (47/50 Bet365)
