Tottenham Hotspur vs Red Star Belgrade
They were the side which, arguably even more than Ajax’s young guns, stole the show and Champions League news headlines last season.
They were involved in simply stratospheric ties as they saw off top teams from many of the big leagues and went onto reach the final, only to fall at the final hurdle.
Yet, so far this season, they have been pegged back in Greece before suffering the ignominy of a home humiliation – so one-sided was the final outcome that Champions League betting odds weren’t even available for the final scoreline.
A club seemingly with issues behind the scenes, amid unsubstantiated rumours of players falling-out, it means the spotlight has now once more focused on the relationship between manager Mauricio Pochettino and chairman Daniel Levy.
This game could be the perfect contest to ease some of that glare and let everyone, including this SBOBET writer, start talking about the football again.
Talking Points
Whoever else Spurs may face in the Champions League this term, you can guarantee they won’t have faced a side quite like Crvena Zvezda, or Red Star Belgrade as they are more commonly known in England.
Founded in March 1945, the club has largely dominated Serbian football and been crowned Serbian Champions for the past two seasons.
How did they celebrate their most recent title success?: by riding a tank through the streets!
Win in North London and they will probably be riding all over Spurs’ qualification hopes.
They really have hopes of their own.
After losing their opener 3-0 in Munich, Red Star were 3-1 winners over Olympiakos last time out – a result which may ultimately help Spurs in their bid to reach the knockout stages.
They reached the group stage of the competition for the second year running via the away goals rule – a 2-2 away draw against Young Boys was followed by a 1-1 home draw.
Many of you may recall the club actually won the European Cup in 1991, beating Marseille (Chris Waddle et al) in a penalty shootout in the final of the competition.
This side, though, is far from that class and not expected to trouble the leading teams.
They beat Rad 3-1 on Friday night to stay top of the Serbian SuperLiga, courtesy of goals from Milan Pavkov, Marko Marin and Marko Gobeljic.
Spurs, meanwhile, needed a late equaliser against Watford as their miserable recent run continued.
Whatever is going on at the club behind the scenes is unclear, but it certainly appears to be impacting on the pitch.
What is clear, however, is the set of players Pochettino has assembled are too talented to remain out of form for long.
They desperately need a victory in this one to kick-start their European aspirations for another term but, equally as importantly, to divert talk back to footballing matters.
One statistic that will give them hope is that 12 months ago, Tottenham recovered from a poor start.
They had only one point after three games but home wins against PSV Eindhoven and Inter, followed by a draw in Barcelona, saw them through to the last 16.
This is the club’s fourth successive appearance in the group stages and they have won eight of their last 12 home games in the competition.
History
The two sides have only met twice before and it was back in round three of the UEFA Cup in 1972/73.
On that occasion, Tottenham won the home leg 2-0 thanks to goals from Martin Chivers and Alan Gilzean.
They lost the second leg 1-0 but progressed to reach the semi-finals where they were beaten by eventual winners Liverpool.
Betting Tip
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Tottenham Hotspur vs Red Star Belgrade | Tottenham Hotspur Asian Handicap -2.00 @ 2.40 |
| October 23, 03:00 (GMT+8) |
Despite their recent troubles, it’s clear Spurs are considered a few levels above their opponents in terms of squad depth and talent.
You can back the hosts 1X2 @ 1.23, while Red Star are rank outsiders @ 10.00. The draw is available @ 6.20.
Historically, Red Star are not good travellers and that is further acknowledged in Asian Handicap betting which prices them +1.75 @ 2.02 and + 2.00 @ 1.79.
It is expected that Spurs can overpower them and over 3.25 goals @ just 2.00, total goal 2-3 @ 2.17 and total goal 4-6 @ 2.40 suggests the same.
The chances of Red Star pulling off a surprise is best available with Double Chance or Draw @ 3.80.
If you think it could be a repeat of nearly 50 years ago at home – correct score 2-0 – there are odds of @ 6.40.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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|---|---|---|---|
| = €20 (Highly confident) |
 = €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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