Lightening to strike twice in Spurs’ Europa League group finale
Published:
Tottenham welcome Monaco to White Hart Lane for their final Europa League group-phase assignment knowing a draw will be enough to secure them top spot and a seeding for the round-of-32 draw.
It’s exactly the same situation that Mauricio Pochettino faced when travelling to Besiktas at this stage of last season’s competition and it seems like the Argentine hasn’t learned from any of the mistakes that night.
A rotated team was fielded in Turkey and lost 1-0, leaving Spurs as runners up in Group C and drawn against the seeded Fiorentina, who knocked them out.
Although Pochettino has resisted the urge to tinker too much with his starting XI in this year’s edition, reports suggest the former Southampton tactician will give in to the temptation now that qualification for the knockouts is assured.
Harry Kane, the club’s only senior striker who has played in all of the club’s 21 games this term, is one player expected to be rested, while in-form midfielder Moussa Dembele is out of action through illness.
Nacer Chadli and Nabil Bentaleb are two recently-injured returners that could be given some game time against the French, while Clinton N’Jie and Kevin Wimmer are crying out for more minutes in order to develop their talents.
With the reserves rarely used, rustiness could be as big a threat to Spurs’ chances in north London as the opposition, who drew with a full-strength Lilywhites lineup in the reverse fixture.
On that basis, the 11/4 about a Red and Whites win looks to be dripping in value, while their 4/5 odds in the double chance market isn’t a bad option either.
Aside from those two picks, Ladbrokes have two special offers available on the clash, details of which can be found below:
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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