Basel have been really well backed to beat Tottenham in the Europa League on Thursday but are still worthy of support at the prices in a couple of markets.
The Swiss club let slip a two-goal lead at White Hart Lane last week but they thoroughly deserved their 2-2 draw in London and are now favourites to advance to the last four.
Gareth Bale’s injury that night cast a shadow over the result and the Welsh star will be absent at St. Jakob-Park in the quarter-final second leg.
Tottenham struggled to break down Everton in the Premier League last time out, needing a late Gylfi Sigurdsson strike to salvage a point, and it is now just one win six matches in all competitions.
The English club have failed to win any of their five away games in this season’s Europa League, even when Bale was featuring, and their vulnerabilities were exposed last time out.
A 4-1 defeat in Milan against Inter after extra time was just about enough to progress but they cannot afford such defensive frailties tonight and the hosts are fancied.
Having seen off Dnipro and Zenit in the knockout stage of the Europa League, Murat Yakin’s side will now have their eyes on the prize and you have to go back to August to find the last time anybody beat Basel on home soil.
That was CFR Cluj in Champions League qualification and the Swiss have won all but two matches since.
It is 11 consecutive clean sheets too and I expect them to keep it tight before hitting Spurs on the counterattack when, inevitably, the visitors are forced to on to the front foot.
Away manager Andre Villas-Boas will also be without the injured duo of William Gallas and Aaron Lennon and it is a tall order for Tottenham to reach the semi-finals from here.
2pts Back Basel Clean Sheet (vs. Tottenham) @ 3.75 (Betfred) 1pt Back Basel To Win To Nil (vs. Tottenham) @ 5.00 (888Sport)