Harry Kane has been ruled out of Tottenham Hotspur’s visit to Manchester United on Saturday. In what promised to be a titanic title tussle (second plays third), the fixture is robbed of perhaps its greatest player. It is a huge shame. Should that affect your wager at BMR’s top-rated bookmakers?
Kane has a hamstring injury. He missed Tottenham’s EFL Cup defeat by West Ham United and although that result was a surprise, it would be hard to blame it on the star striker’s absence.
It won’t stop an expected run on the United price for victory, however. As Pep Guardiola suggested with his condescending “the Harry Kane team” comment, Spurs are thought by many to be a bit of a one-man team. That, of course, is ridiculous. It is not so ridiculous to reckon they might be a little shot-shy in his absence but only because Kane has been extraordinary.
This season Kane has averaged an astonishing 6.5 shots per match, which is busting numbers achieved by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. As a result, Kane is the leading scorer in the Premier League this term with eight goals. Overall, he has 13 goals in 12 matches.
“The doctor and medical staff made the decision to not take the risk,” said Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino. “There is no sense in taking that risk and making the problem bigger.”
Pochettino sounds very calm about a Kane-less Spurs, doesn’t he? Well, perhaps that is because he knows the cold, hard facts that debunk any suggestion that his team are too reliant on Kane. Last season, Spurs won 63 per cent of their matches without Kane. With him, they had a win rate of 62 per cent.
Still, it would take a brave man to reckon Tottenham are value at +280 at (Sportingbet, Betfred, BetVictor) to win at Old Trafford. Instead it is the +125 from SportPesa which attracts most attention.
United have won the last three meetings between the sides in Manchester. And although Spurs bucked their horrible trend for defeat by Liverpool last time out in the league, Jose Mourinho’s team will not be as generous at the back.
The 2-1 reverse at Huddersfield was a stunning moment in the league and Mourinho will not expect another performance where players take it easy. Expect a strong reaction. If the straight bet on a United win is not your thing, then the correct score at 2-0 and 3-0 appeals. They weigh in at +1000 and +2200 (both SportsWinner), respectively.
But perhaps we are being too harsh on Tottenham. Let’s stick to what we know: and that is that Spurs look certain to have fewer goal attempts. So the +246 (Marathon) price that United win to nil is worth an interest.
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