Under pressure Spurs to finally show up?
The Champions League enters its third round of games with Tottenham Hotspur hosting FK Red Star Belgrade at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Spurs can be found in a horrid last place whilst Red Star are sat at second, however, a Tottenham victory will see them leapfrog their Serbian opponents. Can they turn their fortunes around and act like Champions League finalists or will this be another dismal showing?
Tottenham
Mauricio Pochettino finds himself under immense pressure following Tottenhams absolute shambolic start to the season after having reached last years Champions League final. It is increasingly looking like the only reason he has not faced more scrutiny (if thats possible) or even faced the axe is due to last seasons accolades.
The Lilywhites were lucky to salvage a draw at home against Watford this past weekend with Dele Alli scoring an 86th minute equaliser after Ben Foster's moment of total brain deadness.
Still bad despite international break
The international break was seen as very welcoming for the Spurs who suffered humiliating defeats against Brighton (3-0) and Bayern München (2-7 AT HOME) prior to it but little seems to have changed as Watford should have travelled home with all 3 points after an inspired performance.
Tottenham are up against the wall and if they fail to win against Red Star Pochettino might be saying goodbye.
Red Star
The red and whites have so far had a terrific season and are absolutely dominating the Serbian domestic league where they can obviously be found in 1st place 4 points ahead of 2nd with a game in hand.
Great form
Vladan Milojevic's men have amassed 10 wins and a solitary defeat scoring 23 goals and conceding 9 in the process. The keen football enthusiasts amongst you will know how daunting a task it is to play at Red Star's home arena which is a fortress and arguably the most intimidating place in the world to play. The Belgrade team are yet to lose a home game this season (11 games) and know that advancing from this group is entirely possible due to their strength at home.
Alarmingly poor on the road
However, the story changes drastically when they play away from home which was very evident during last years Champions League edition where they conceded 13(!) goals in only 3 away games. They were also beat with 3-0 against Bayern during round 1.
Given the fact that the Serb's did not win a single away game during the qualifying stages for the CL they will more than likely have a very hard time at Tottenham.
Betting tip
Despite Spurs remarkably poor form they are without a doubt the better side and given that Red Star are terrible travellers i will be backing a Tottenham (-1) handicap win at 4/5 with Bethard.
