JOSE MOURINHO is starting to work his magic on Tottenham and they head into their Championship League showdown with Leipzig on the back of a seven-game unbeaten run.
The Special One has his critics but what can't be denied is the fact he's a born winner and that's rubbing off on Spurs, who are back in the hunt for a top-four Premier League finish and still chasing glory in the FA Cup and Champions League.
A repeat of their run to last season's Euro showpiece under Mauricio Pochettino is unlikely, especially with Son Heung-Min now joining Harry Kane on the sidelines, and Mourinho will need to use all his nous to see off a dangerous RB Leipzig side in the last 16.
The Germans impressed me hugely in the group stage, busting my coupon with wins in Lisbon and St Petersburg en route to topping a difficult section including Zenit, Benfica and Lyon.
RB Leipzig remain in the hunt for the Bundesliga title, sitting just a point behind a Bayern Munich side that thrashed Spurs 7-2 and 3-1 in the group stage. But their form has been a bit flaky of late, with Saturday's 3-0 win over Werder Bremen ending a run of four games without a victory.
How the bookies view it
This is a tough one to call and that's reflected in the odds, with Spurs a best 31/21 at VBet and Leipzig 2/1 with Betfred. The best price for a draw is 13/5 at BetVictor and that might be worth a punt, although I'll be staying clear of this market.
Head to head
These sides have never faced off in a competitive game and it's the first time Leipzig have taken on an English club in Europe. Spurs have a decent record in two-leg knockout ties against German opposition, winning five and losing three.
They faced Dortmund at this stage of the Champions League last year and eased to a 4-0 aggregate win, doing most of the damage at home in the first leg with a 3-0 victory (below).
Players to watch
The loss of Son to a broken arm is a huge blow as he has scored six in his last five outings and also saves some of his best displays for the Champions League, with five goals in the group stage.
Mourinho is now left to choose from Brazilian Lucas Moura or 22-year-old Dutchman Steven Bergwijn. I will be on Moura to score at 21/10 with Unibet.
Leipzig goal machine Timo Werner (below left) has gone off the boil, drawing a blank in his last five games, but still leads the anytime scorer market at a best 6/5 with Unibet. That's not great value so try Czech striker Patrik Schick, who has two goals from his last four matches, at 23/10 with Paddy Power.
Anything else catch the eye?
Both these sides were great entertainers in the group stage, with all six of Tottenham's games having four goals or more and over 2.5 strikes coming up four times for Leipzig.
They kept only three clean sheets in their 12 games combined – with Spurs chalking up two of those against whipping boys Red Star – so both teams to score appeals here at 4/7 with William Hill.
Going by the stats, many punters might fancy over 3.5 goals at 7/4 with Betfair but first legs in knockout European ties can be a bit cagey, especially with the pragmatic Mourinho in charge. So instead I'm tempted by the 6/5 Paddy Power are offering on under 2.5 strikes.
Leipzig could have plenty of the ball so I like the look of the 23/20 William Hill are offering on them winning over one corner in each half.
This UEFA Champions League match between Tottenham Hotspur and RB Leipzig will be played on Feb 19, 2020 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Tottenham Hotspur vs RB Leipzig prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
