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Carling Cup Football
Preview - 25 Sep 2007
Boro could struggle to make a
mark.
Gareth Southgate was a relieved man yesterday. He must have
feared the worst, seeing three key performers pick up
serious-looking injuries during the eventful 2-2 draw with
Sunderland on saturday. There was some bad news in the case of
in-form midfielder Julio Arca, who will be out for up to three
months with medial ligament damage. However, the worries over Mido
and Tuncay proved to be false alarms, with both forwards now in
contention for the weekend trip to Everton.
Unfortunately for Boro's Carling Cup prospects, neither will be
risked at White Hart Lane this wednesday. That means the 'Tae-Guk
Warrior' Lee Dong-Gook is Southgate's only recognised striker
available. Anyone who witnessed his sub-standard displays ploughing
a lone furrow in the Asian Cup, will not be confident of him
doubling his Boro goal tally, even against a porous Tottenham
defence. To be fair to Lee, he had very little support from his
teammates in those International games, and he hasn't yet been given
a proper run in the Boro side. He has just a solitary goal to his
name since his arrival last winter, and that was against Northampton
in the second round. It's a big step up for a player who has yet to
prove himself at this level.
Support to Lee is most likely to come from Brazilian play-maker
Fabio Rochemback, who is enjoying something of an Indian summer,
having been written off by many Boro fans since his arrival from
Sporting Lisbon. Rochemback also has one goal to his name, but has
been a constant goal threat since returning to the side following a
three game suspension. With Arca on the sidelines, 'Rocky' looks the
most likely to cause Martin Jol's side problems.
Spurs' home form is generally good, and they would be expected to
make all the running against a Boro side who have been generally
poor away from the Riverside under Southgate's tutorage. There have
been promising signs recently against both Fulham and West Ham, but
this is a step-up and, without a cutting-edge upfront, it's easy to
the home side coming away with the spoils.
It's still unclear how Jol will approach things. Dimitar Berbatov
could be rested, with Darren Bent and Jermain Defoe both pushing for
a starting berth. With Jonathan Woodgate at the helm, Boro are not a
bad side defensively, and it's certainly not beyond the realms that
he could help keep Spurs' secondary strikers at bay. The layers'
think there will be a few goals here, but I disagree, given Boro's
personnel problems upfront. Rather than put all our eggs in one
basket, the best option could be to pay Expekt's 'both sides to
score' market another visit. This provides a decent price about Boro
failing to find the target ,whilst also covering the goalless draw
and a shock Boro win to nil. It's also worth taking Rochemback to
find the target at a tasty double-figure price.
Tottenham v Middlesbrough. Carling Cup
Wednesday 19:45.
Recommendations:
5 pts Either side not to score.
21/20 Expekt.
0.5 pts Rochemback to score
anytime. 12/1 Hills.
Ilunga
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