Tottenham v AZ Alkmaar: Back Spurs to edge it & 13/8 Maddison special | OneFootball

UEFA Europa League

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglu knows the game against AZ Alkmaar could decide his job

Paul Higham expects Tottenham to win the second leg againzt AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League, and has a 13/8 player props special on James Maddison for the game...

Tottenham v AZ AlkmaarThursday 13 March, 20:00 kick-offLive on TNT Sports 3

Spurs should have enough, surely?

Right then, so the season's on the line for Tottenham and who knows maybe even Ange Postecoglu's job could depend on whether they can get through from their Europa League tie with AZ Alkmaar.

Any excuses about injuries just won't cut if the Premier League side can't reverse that embarrassing 1-0 loss in Alkmaar last week and beat the Dutch side in front of their own fans. The worry is that with a 1.61xG and some big chances missed AZ should've won the first leg by more.

Big Ange says he always wins silverware in his second season, and Spurs are 13/20 favourites to make their first European quarter-final since 2019 - with AZ a lot shorter at 6/5 than you would've thought they'd be when the draw was made.

As well as the multi-millionaires of the Spurs squad, AZ have a shocking away record to contend with as they travel to north London as they've lost all nine previous visits to England and are sat on a 10-game winless away run in European football.

Maarten Marten's side have won seven of their last nine games though, and do only need a draw here to cause a huge upset and book a quarter-final spot against Eintracht Frankfurt or Ajax. The draw is 18/5

The Dutch FA also gave AZ the weekend off to prepare so they should be fresh - and the way things have been going for Spurs it's surely going to be a rollercoaster ride. You have to fancy them to get through by hook or by crook.

Goals always likely with Spurs

Scoring goals shouldn't really be an issue for Spurs - they've scored in a competition record 29 Europa League home games on the spin - including nine goals in their four group stage contests at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season.

It's keeping them out at the other end that's the problem, with just one clean sheet in their past seven in all competitions including when AZ should've scored more than that single goal in the home leg.

Spurs won 1-0 when the two teams met here in the group stage, but although both meetings have ended in that scoreline this will surely be much more of a goal fest.

Over 2.5 goals is priced accordingly at 4/7 while both teams to score is 8/11 and the way Spurs have defended of late a clean sheet would probably be more of a surprise.

Back Son to strike & Maddison's foul count

I like Son Heung-min to get a goal here - coming off the bench to score a cheeky penalty to get a point against Bournemouth is just the boost he'll need ahead of this game.

Back Son to score at 7/5 as he did against Hoffenheim and Roma in the Europa League - where he's had 16 shots and hit the target six times and with an expected wealth of possession he'll have that extra quality to get a breakthrough against the Dutch defence.

Dominic Solanke is the favourite to score at 5/4 while James Maddison could be a key figure but isn't in the best form as he's without a goal or assist in his last three games and made no impact during the 71 minutes he played in the first leg.

Troy Parrott is the intriguing one for AZ Alkmaar as the former Spurs man is 3/1 to score anytime and he went close in the first leg when missing a great chance - and there'll be more space for the Dutch side on the break with Tottenham piling forward.

There were 26 fouls in the first leg, five of them involving James Maddison, and that's a number he can hit again in the home leg where he's even more likely to be given fouls by the referee.

He's 13/8 to be involved in 5+ fouls, which he's managed in nine games this season.

I especially like this bet under the circumstances as AZ will be trying to stop him early so he'll get fouls against him, but if the game goes on and Spurs have no joy then frustration will mean him giving away a few of his own.

Recommended bets

Back Spurs to win & over 2.5 goals @ 1/1 Back Maddison 5+ goal involvements @ 13/8