Spurs new boys to cut confident Cardiff down to size

Cardiff welcome Spurs to the Welsh capital for only the second time in 36 years but home fans expecting to another Manchester City-style shock are likely to be disappointed, with an in-form Spurs team well priced at 19/20 to come away with all three points.

While the sale of Gareth Bale is undoubtedly a big loss to boss Andre Villas Boas, he may feel that the world record fee received from Madrid will actually benefit the club in the long run, having been so far used to bring in some exceptional new talent.

Erik Lamela presents the priciest purchase, costing over £25m from Roma, and was impressive midweek when handed his first start in a Spurs shirt against Tromso. The Argentine could therefore mark his first Premier League start and is 8/1 to break the deadlock.

Roberto Soldado, 9/2 fav to score first, is another high profile signing, and although his two goals so far have come from the spot, it can only be a matter of time before the Spanish international starts banging them in as frequently as he did for Valencia.

But the pick of the bunch, despite playing only 97 minutes in a Spurs shirt so far, is Christian Eriksen. The 21-year-old Danish international’s arrival at White Hart Lane was a rather understated one, signing in the shadow of Bale’s departure and the arrival of Lamela.

But if his two appearances so far are anything to go by, with a starring role in last week’s 2-0 home win against Norwich and in a goalscoring cameo in midweek, Eriksen could well be the man to banish any thoughts of their former Welsh superstar.

Confident in possession, capable of picking a pass and also happy to take it past defenders, he seems ideally suited to roam in the space just behind Soldado. His stunning strike against Tromso shows he’s not afraid to have a pop either, and at 9/1 can be backed to score first or last.

Cardiff will be no pushover. Their home record so far reads won one, drawn one, conceded just two. It’s not a bad record for any promoted team but the feat is even more impressive given that visitors to the Cardiff City Stadium so far have been Manchester City and Everton.

The Bluebirds are unbeaten in three Premier League games and with former Spurs defender Steven Caulker marshalling the back four, Villas Boas will know only too well that they’ll prove a tricky backline to break through. The home side are 10/3 to keep a clean sheet but with the firepower Spurs now boast, not to mention their own impressively measly defence with only one goal conceded all season, the 23/10 on Spurs to win to nil looks tempting.

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