Tottenham vs Qarabag predictions: Solanke to stay on goal trail | OneFootball

Tottenham kick off their Europa League campaign at home to Azerbaijani champions Qarabag on Thursday, and betting sites don’t foresee anything other than a comfortable home win (8pm,TNT Sports 1 and Discovery+).

Spurs are favourites to win the competition, football betting sites pricing them at 5/1 to lift the trophy in May, and with Ange Postecoglou talking up his record of collecting silverware in his second season at every club he’s managed, this could be the perfect opportunity.

His side currently sit 10th in the Premier League table with seven points from their first five games but go into Thursday’s game on the back of a League Cup win over Coventry and a 3-1 win over Brentford at the weekend.

Next up are Qarabag, who started the season in the Champions League, comfortably seeing off Lincoln Red Imps and Ludogorets in qualifying before they were knocked out of by Dinamo Zagreb, going down 5-0 over the two legs.

Domestically, they have won five of their opening six matches and sit top of the Azerbaijan Premier League. Their only defeat to date came at home to Turan.

This will be the third meeting between the two sides in this competition, and so far Spurs have a 100 per cent record after completing the double during the 2015/16 season.

A double from Son Heung-Min and a third from Erik Lamela gave them a 3-1 win at home before Harry Kane scored the only goal of the game over in Azerbaijan.

Qarabag have lost all six of their previous meetings with English sides in all competitions, with Chelsea (2017-18) and Arsenal (2018-19) besting them twice, alongside the defeats to Spurs.

Add to that the fact that Tottenham have lost just one of their last eight matches in the Uefa Europa League (W6 D1) and surely there can only be one winner if Postecoglou names a strong side?

Spurs have already scored three goals at home twice this season, against Brentford and in a 4-0 win over Everton in August and we’re backing them to do the same again on Thursday.

With the home side so short at a best price of 1/7 to win on betting apps, bettors looking to back Spurs will need to get creative, so we’re going for a scorecast and backing Solanke to score again.

The former Bournemouth striker opened his account for his new side last weekend against Brentford and a home encounter with a pretty leaky Qarabag team - they’ve shipped 12 in their last four Europa League away games - is a chance for Solanke to add to his tally.

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