Tottenham v Basel: Goal-shy visitors to leave with nothing

Somewhat surprisingly at the last-eight stage of the tournament, Tottenham prepare for a Europa League tie against a Basel side yet to win on their travels in Europe this term.

And with that in mind, there seems little reason to oppose Andre Villas-Boas’ men at 4/11 in match betting markets, especially as they have won all but one of their Europa League fixtures at White Hart Lane this season.

The sole match in which they failed to achieve victory did end level however, and with Basel achieving three away draws in the competition so far, some could be tempted by the 19/5 odds regarding a stalemate.

However, it does seem wisest to back a Spurs victory, with added value to be found from betting on the amount of goals to be scored in company with the match result.

In each of the hosts’ four home European triumphs this season, a minimum of three goals have emanated, and the possibility of this scenario repeating itself is generously priced at 20/21.

Although Basel have only notched twice on the road in Europe, Spurs’ 3-0 success over Inter in their last European outing cements the credentials of this bet, whilst also highlighting other profit-making opportunities.

Indeed, some may take on the 7/1 odds that Villas-Boas’ charges complete another 3-0 victory, whilst the 6/5 odds that Tottenham win without conceding also appeal.

And after Gareth Bale returned to goalscoring form in his last domestic outing, he is sure to be the focus of many a punter too.

With three strikes in his past three Europa League outings, Bale is 3/1 favourite to open the scoring, as he has done in five of his last 10 appearances across all competitions.

It should be noted that he notched at least a brace in three of those 10 games too, and so some mileage could be found in the 12/1 odds regarding a Bale hat-trick here.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.