Sports Blog 07/12/2016: UEFA Champions League Preview – Tottenham vs CSKA Moscow/Porto vs Leicester, Wednesday 7th December 2016

Can Tottenham compensate for their Champions League capitulation by reaching the Europa League with the right result against CSKA Moscow, at 7.45pm on BT Sport 2?

There have been different layers of embarrassment to Spurs’ Champions League campaign. The most obvious, of course, is their failure to reach the next round, their failure to beat Monaco at the end of November sending them out of the competition at nearly the earliest point possible. Added to that, however, is their inability to get a result at Wembley; in hindsight the club’s choice to switch to the home of English football for their European home games seems hubristic, and resulted in losses against both Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen.



Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping his side can finally secure at least a draw at their temporary home when CSKA Moscow come to visit, a point being all that Tottenham needs to secure a place in the Europa League. For the Russians, on the other hand, only a win will see them go through after securing just 3 points from 3 draws and 2 losses.

As has often been the case in the Premier League, goals haven’t been particularly forthcoming for Spurs in Europe, where they’ve found the back of the net just 3 times in 5 games. As ever Harry Kane, whose domestic form has started to pick-up once again, is their best chance going forwards, and heads into Wednesday night at a Super Mega PGM of 56-66, while the solid Son Heung-Min is at 28-34.

Coming off a hefty 5-0 win against Swansea, and with the knowledge they beat their opponents in Russia, Spurs should sneak into Europe’s B-tier competition, with Spreadex offering a Tottenham/CSKA Moscow Goal Supremacy spread of 1.05-1.25 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.65-2.85.

Already guaranteed to finish 1st in Group G can Leicester potentially deny Porto a place in the last 16 when the 2 sides meet at 7.45pm on BT Sport 3? Domestically the Foxes are having a disastrous season, loitering just 2 points above the relegation zone; the fact that Jamie Vardy hasn’t scored since September 10th captures just how dramatic their fall from grace has been. In Europe, however, Leicester have been able to put their troubles behind them, nabbing 1 draw and 4 wins (more than the 3 victories managed in the Premier League).



With the group already won, Claudio Ranieri has chosen to rest his key players ahead of Saturday’s visit from Manchester City. Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy and Islam Slimani are all at home, leaving Shinji Okazaki (at a Super Mega PGM of 7-10) and Ahmed Musa (at 9-13) as their best options up front.

As for Porto, they need to beat Leicester to stand their best chance of reaching the knockouts, though if Copenhagen somehow fail to beat a pointless Club Brugge they would go through. This, alongside the Foxes second string squad, has led Spreadex to offer a Porto/Leicester Goal Supremacy spread of 1.5-1.7 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.65-2.85.