AS Roma vs Tottenham Hotspur
In football terms, things are rarely as bad as they seem.
Yet, right now, these two clubs could be forgiven for feeling frustrated. After all, the SBOBET odds of them having a fine summer are drifting badly.
Talking Points
For the second successive summer, AS Roma have sold a key player to Liverpool, a decision made in the best interests of the club according to legendary figure Francesco Totti.
Things quickly got worse when the Giallorossi missed out on Bordeaux winger Malcom when it seemed the deal had all been wrapped up.
Indeed, the anger and disappointment of losing the 21-year-old Brazilian, who chose to sign for Spanish champions Barcelona, has prompted the Roma sporting director Monchi to consider legal action—even though the chances of such a route being successful seems unlikely.
Hot on the heels of the departure of goalkeeper Alisson, the Malcom move is a massive blow for a club which saw how losing one star last summer was very much someone else’s gain.
As they prepare to meet Spurs in San Diego, the club is being linked with a range of new recruits from Suso and Domenico Berardi to Florian Thauvin.
The acquisition of Swedish number one Robin Olsen as Alisson’s replacement seems shrewd business, but it will take far more to soften the double blow the club has endured in recent days.
It certainly points to the gap between them and Italian champions Juventus— now complete with world number one Cristiano Ronaldo—widening rather than the other way around.
That is unless new signings such as Javier Pastore and Justin Kluivert hit the ground running.
This will be the third friendly so far for Eusebio Di Francesco’s men compared to Spurs, who are yet to get their pre-season underway.
Indeed, it will be an unrecognisable Tottenham side in many ways given the number of their players now resting following World Cup exertions.
Boss Mauricio Pochettino is preparing to start the new Premier League season without many of his World Cup stars. No fewer than nine Spurs players were involved in the final week of the tournament with eventual winners France, Belgium and England.
Collectively, they played nearly 1,000 minutes more football in Russia than others from the Premier League who reached the last four. Certainly, Pochettino wants to give all his players, which include the likes of Hugo Lloris, Kieran Trippier, Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Moussa Dembele and Jan Vertonghen, a 21-day break. That is considered the minimum time to rest, recharge and disconnect from the emotion of the competition.
On saying that, Spurs still have good strength in depth with the likes of Serge Aurier, Lucas Moura, former Roma man Erik Lamela and Victor Wanyama available in America and Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min also back after shorter World Cup campaigns.
This clash on the West Coast could see a mix of youth and experience pitted against one another. For Pochettino, however, the main challenge is to have all his players return soon so they are not too stretched by the first four league games—three away and one at Wembley—before they return to the new White Hart Lane in mid-September.
History
They met last year in this tournament, with Roma edging an exciting five-goal contest thanks to an injury-time Marco Tumminello goal. The Spurs had fought back from two goals down through Harry Winks and Vincent Janssen (remember him?) until Tumminello struck the winner two minutes into the extended period.
They also met in pre-season 10 years ago and it was a very different story. On that occasion, Spurs ran out 5-0 winners at White Hart Lane on the day Luka Modric made his home Spurs debut.
These are the only times the giants of North London and the Italian capital have met.
What are the odds?
AS Roma are favourites with ICC 2018 outright odds. The 1X2 odds on the Italians are 2.27, with Tottenham Hotspur @ 2.82 and the draw @ 3.50.
Likewise, Roma are expected to lead at half-time with First Half 1X2 @ 2.80 compared to Tottenham Hotspur at 3.50. The draw after 45 minutes is at 2.09.
SBOBET Asian Handicap sports betting also leans towards Carlo Ancelotti’s men. Roma are tipped with -0.25 @ 1.99 compared to Spurs who are priced at an appealing Draw No Bet @ 2.36.
You can get odds on Under 2.75 goals @ 2.03 and Total Goal 4-6 @ 2.76.
The best football bets are often unusual and if an entertaining pre-season 1-1 draw catches your imagination, you can get odds of 6.20.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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