Tottenham Hotspur vs Barcelona Predictions

Just over a year ago Tottenham were gearing up for a Champions League trip to APOEL in a group that looked incredibly tough for the perennially underachieving club. They won that match 3-0, but the real story of that group stage was the fact that they managed to win five of their six group games in total, beating Borussia Dortmund both home and away and taking four points off eventual winners Real Madrid.

They topped that group before going out to Juventus in the first knockout round, but that success hasn’t been justly rewarded this season. They have been drawn alongside one of the favourites to lift the trophy this season, Barcelona, along with Dutch giants PSV and the resurgent Inter Milan.

The latter of this trio managed to mount a thrilling comeback at the San Siro in their first Champions League group game this season, cancelling out Christian Eriksen’s opener via a stunning goal from Mauro Icardi before scoring again in the 90th minute. It was against the run of play and very unfortunate for Tottenham, although the defeat does seem to have spurred them on to up their performances.

They have beaten Brighton and Huddersfield away from home since then, winning against Watford on penalties in between. Now, it’s a return to Wembley for the first time since their defeat to Liverpool in the middle of September, and they’ll be hoping for a better showing than that game.

Fortunately for Mauricio Pocchettino’s side, Barcelona aren’t exactly showing their quality at the moment. They required a late equaliser from Munir to claim a point at home to Athletic Bilbao at the weekend, and that followed a shock 2-1 defeat at Leganes in midweek. Prior to that they had drawn at home to Girona as well, leaving them winless in three competitive matches for the first time since November 2016.

They may be footballing superstars, but this is bound to have some effect on the Barcelona players’ morale. Now they’re coming up against a Tottenham side who won all three of their group stage home games last season, and they have only lost four competitive home games in the last 12 months. Barcelona, shockingly, have only won one of their last seven trips away in the Champions League too.

Despite this, Barcelona are still odds on favourites to take all three points. We think this is a mistake, so we’re going to take the value of a Tottenham Win or Draw Double Chance along with a 2-2 correct score predictions here.