Bournemouth v Tottenham: Stuttering Spurs can be opposed

BOURNEMOUTH welcome Tottenham to Dean Court for Saturday's early kick-off. Mark O'Haire (@MarkOHaire) previews the encounter, picking out his best bets.

Bournemouth v Tottenham | Saturday 4th May 2019, 12:30 | Sky Sports

With just two rounds of Premier League fixtures to play, Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal appear to be in a battle for who doesn’t want to finish in the top four. Over the past fortnight the four clubs in question have registered a sole success in 10 matches, and that was a late goal from Spurs in a sketchy 1-0 victory over Brighton.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men enjoy a four-point cushion over North London rivals Arsenal in fifth but their alarming recent run is cause for concern for odds-on backers on Saturday. Will the Spurs boss rest and rotate ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Amsterdam? Who knows, but his options remain severely limited with Jan Vertonghen a confirmed absentee.

Son Heung-min returns to the fray to add zest to an attack that’s appeared flat, jaded and devoid of inspiration in recent weeks, whilst Moussa Sissoko inclusion remains in doubt with the Frenchman possibly asked to recuperate ahead of the Champions League rescue mission. Pochettino will be well aware of that four-point buffer at least…

Either way, it’s hard to feel confident in Spurs at their current quotes. They’ve lost four of their last five without Vertonghen, it’s four defeats in five now and eight reverses in nine across all competitions. Sure, Tottenham have faced elite opposition in many of those matches but even against Brighton and West Ham they lacked a little je ne sais quoi.

Cherries can be competitive

Spurs have shipped twice or more in eight of their most recent nine outings on the road and that should encourage a Bournemouth outfit that enjoys getting forward at every opportunity. The Cherries are renowned rotten performers against the Premier League’s Big Six – even at home (W4-D2-L17) – but Eddie Howe’s men often go down swinging.

Six losses in seven winless matches with Spurs since promotion isn’t encouraging and their recent run of two triumphs in 12 (W2-D3-L7) is also rather off-putting. But since being beaten 1-0 by Manchester City here two months ago, Howe’s men have been unfortunate to suffer three defeats in seven against teams at an inopportune juncture in the season.

Brendan Rodgers had recently arrived at Leicester, Burnley were in the midst of survival mode and Fulham have found their range under Scott Parker. We might well be nibbling on scraps to find evidence to support the Cherries avoiding defeat but all of the above, plus the fact they’ve only lost by two goals or more once in five against the Big Six, is encouraging.

Tottenham have tended to get business done on their travels, although it’s rarely been one-sided. So I believe there’s scope to support Bournemouth with a +0.50 start at odds-against quotes of 11/10 with Blacktype). Team news could of course be key here but laboured Spurs may well have their eyes set on Amsterdam and are therefore opposable at Dean Court.