PREMIER LEAGUE MONDAY: The Striker previews LEICESTER v TOTTENHAM with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
LEICESTER V TOTTENHAM
8pm It’s the first Monday Night Football fixture of the Premier League, and we have a cracker on BETDAQ Betting Exchange! Plenty of questions about both sides heading into this season as Leicester host Spurs. Jamie Vardy is back in the Premier League, but if you believe the betting markets it won’t be for long. Leicester are one of the favourites to go back down this season; the reality is the gulf in class between the Premier League and the Championship is massive these days with all the money in the Premier League. You only have to look at last season to know it’s going to be a challenge for all three promoted sides to stay up this season.
Then of course you have Spurs; when do we all have questions and drama around Spurs! So far it’s been a reasonably quiet summer from the club and Ange Postecoglou. That’s probably a good thing – he got Spurs off to a flying start last season and they will need to do the same again if they want to have a chance at the Top Four. Spurs finished last season with the fourth highest attacking figure in the Premier League – they had an average xG created of 1.73 which is very impressive. The problem for Spurs was again at the back – something “Spursy” is never too far away, and we saw that when they got into the Top Four battle with Aston Villa.
They finished the season with an average xG conceded of 1.38 which isn’t too bad – that’s better than Chelsea, Manchester United and Newcastle for example. But their actual goals conceded average was 1.61. They need to tighten up at the back this season. They played some superb attacking football under Postecoglou; now he needs to fix the issues at the back this season. They will be expected to win this game with Leicester coming up from the Championship, even away from home. They come into the game as the odds on favourites at 1.62 with Leicester trading 5.7 and the draw is 4.7 at the time of writing.
Leicester were superb in the Championship last season, but they did have their wobbles at times. They lost 11 games in total which was more than Ipswich and Leeds in second and third, and the same as Southampton. They were solid at the back overall though – their average xG conceded was only 1.12 which was the second best defensive figure in the Championship – they actually conceded less than one goal per game too. Obviously the Premier League is a huge step up, but if they can keep that record at the back, especially at home, they should give themselves a decent chance of staying up.
I’m keen to see how this plays out, so stakes will definitely be low in this one. For Leicester, it’s interesting to see how they perform with home advantage against a side that will be battling for that fourth spot. From a Spurs point of view, you want to see them improve at the back this season. The market is expecting goals with Over 2.5 goals trading 1.56 and Both Teams To Score is 1.66. It was never a bad idea being on Overs with Spurs last season, but I do feel Leicester will sit back here. I’m going to have a small bet on Under 2.5 goals at 2.67. Hopefully no mistakes from Spurs at the back, and I fancy Leicester making them work hard for the win here.
The Striker Says:
One point win Under 2.5 goals at 2.67 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/LeiTtm
