SPURS and Southampton will meet for the fourth time this season on Wednesday night when squaring off for a place in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Tottenham took three points from the first tussle of the season back in September before falling to a 1-0 defeat during the reverse fixture on New Year's Day, and the most recent meeting in the FA Cup at St Mary's ended all square.
A sense of optimism has returned to north London in recent days following a Jose Mourinho masterclass against Man City at the weekend – a much-needed shot in the arm for Spurs' season.
The Portuguese will be desperate to see his side pick up where they left off on Wednesday night as the FA Cup undoubtedly represents the “Special One's” best shot at silverware this season.
However, standing in Spurs' way of place in the fifth round is a Southampton side who have shown admirable powers of recovery this season under the stewardship of Ralph Hasenhuttl.
After suffering a record-breaking 9-0 loss at home to Leicester earlier in the season, the Saints hierarchy kept faith in the Austrian and have since reaped the rewards as the south coast side look well on course to retain their Premier League status.
The Betting Odds
Tottenham are 4/6 favourites with Bet 365 to set up a fifth round fixture with fellow Premier League side Norwich City.
The Saints are a soaring 17/4 with Bet 365 to march into the next round and another all-square affair that would set up extra-time and potential penalty kicks pays 14/5 with the same firm.
The Betting Angles
I cashed up by backing Tottenham to hit the back of the net during Sunday's triumph over Man City – one of three winning bets – and I'm going to revisit a similar market on Wednesday night,
The Lilywhites made the net bulge twice against Pep Guardiola's star-studded side and the 4/5 (Marathonbet) on offer for the hosts to score two or more against the Saints takes appeal.
What's more, Spurs have scored two or more goals in seven of the nine home games that Mourinho has taken charge of, however, the Londoners have been leaking goals at the other end of the park.
Indeed, Spurs registered a rare clean sheet last time out, however, Man City were very wasteful and with that in mind, I wouldn't be surprised to see Southampton to get on the scoresheet here.
The Saints have managed to strike in all but two of their last 18 outings and that coupled with Spurs ropey rearguard has me attracted to 4/5 (SportingBet) on offer for both teams to score in this cup clash – a bet that has clicked in nine of the last 10 meetings between these two teams.
In considering who will progress to the fifth round, this is a tough one to call and it could turn out to be a lot tighter than what the betting suggests.
However, given that Tottenham are two home wins away from reaching the last-eight, as well as Mourinho's reputation for delivering silverware, I fancy Spurs to march into the next round.
However, the 4/6 (Bet 365) on offer for a home win in normal time looks slightly short to me and therefore I'm going to utilize Bet 365's Bet Builder feature for a bit of insurance by combining Tottenham to qualify, over one match goal and at least one Southampton card at 5/6 (Bet 365)
This FA Cup match between Tottenham and Southampton will be played on Feb 5, 2020 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Tottenham vs Southampton prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
