Football betting tips: Champions League
1.5pts Alexander Sorloth to score anytime at 21/20 (General)
0.5pt Sorloth to score 2+ goals at 11/2 (General)
0.25pt Sorloth to score a hat-trick at 22/1 (General)
1pt Micky van De Ven to be shown a card at 4/1 (General)
It can't go on like this can it? Clearly, it can.
On Friday morning I really was expecting to wake up to news that Tottenham had sacked yet another manager. No, the Igor Tudor experiment continues apace! As long as that remains the case we're here to get stuck in.
The Croat's three games in charge have been nothing short of a disaster, and while it was only fair to afford him a degree of rope for facing Arsenal in his opening match, Spurs’ subsequent pitiful performances at Fulham and at home to Crystal Palace have left no hiding place.
Had Palace not shown such mercy in the second half at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday we may very well have (Googles it) under-21s boss Wayne Burnett in charge for what could be an excruciating night in the Spanish capital; best not to sully another coach with this mess I suppose.
When Ryan Mason - or whoever else Tottenham chief executive Vinai Venkatesham can get hold of - inevitability leads the team for the second leg in a week or so’s time after an embarrassing Super Sunday defeat at Liverpool proves to be the final straw, at least it really will feel like it cannot possibly get any worse.
It. Can.
Anyway, for another day. Come on You Spurs!
Good in the Champions League, bad in the Premier League right? No!
While Spurs deserved praised for automatically qualifying for the round of 16 under Thomas Frank they were perhaps the most fortunate of the top eight to do so having first been handed a very favourable draw before collecting plenty of good fortune thereafter.
This is by no means a vintage Atletico Madrid team but they are streets ahead of Tottenham in every way and finding form at exactly the right time.
Atleti's only defeat in six matches came away to Barcelona, while at home they have been rampant recently, scoring at least three goals in all of their last four matches, finding the net four times in all but one of those fixtures.
The combination of Atleti's strong attack and Tottenham's abject defence - they have conceded 2+ goals in their last 10 domestic fixtures - means the goals line has been cut in painfully short, with even the home win and overs only providing even money quotes with the vast majority of firms.
Instead it's worth looking at an ANYTIME GOALSCORER and whatever Diego Simeone gave ALEXANDER SORLOTH for Christmas has clearly paid off, especially at The Metropolitano.
The Norwegian has been near enough unstoppable of late, scoring in seven of his last eight home starts, finding the net 11 times in total.
During that stretch of games he has scored 2+ GOALS on three occasions, including one HAT-TRICK. There's no sign of him letting up either, with six goals in his last three home outings, scoring in each appearance - a single, a brace and a hat-trick.
All three lines feel worth backing to appropriate stakes at 21/20, 11/2 and 22/1.
It's tempting to also get Julian Alvarez onside given that he is Atleti’s top scorer in this season's Champions League with five goals from exactly 5.0 xG and the team’s penalty taker, but he has scored just three times in his last 19 matches, making the 5/4 too short.
To round off I'll stick with the very uncomplicated MICKY VAN DE VEN TO BE SHOWN A CARD.
It makes little sense that the Tottenham defender can still be backed at 4/1 after his head loss against Palace added a red card to his 10 yellows for the season.
The return of hatchet man Cristian Romero (8Y 2R) alongside him may take some of the heat off, but for context the Spurs captain is a general 7/4 for a card.
Odds correct at 16:30 GMT (9/3/26)
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