Tottenham Hotspur vs Cardiff Predictions

Tottenham endured more Champions League disappointment on Wednesday night as they fell to defeat at home to Barcelona, a thrilling match that ended 4-2 to the Catalan visitors. They looked overwhelmed in the first half, and while they did improve vastly after the break, a Lionel Messi masterclass was enough to resign them to their second Champions League loss of the season.

Back in the Premier League, and things are going a bit better for Mauricio Pocchettino’s men. They have won five of their seven league games so far, losing in back-to-back fixtures against Watford and Liverpool. Those two performances were abject for the most part, but they’ve looked comfortable in the majority of their victories.

This is enough to put Spurs in 4th position in the Premier League, four points adrift of leaders Manchester City. That gap may look narrow, but at the moment Tottenham look some way off the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea in terms of performance. Still, they will feel confident about their chances of picking up another three points on Saturday.

Cardiff were hot favourites for relegation this season after their rather surprising promotion winning campaign last year, and seven games into the new term nothing has changed. They have failed to win any of their seven league games, losing five times and unsurprisingly residing in the bottom three. They are one of three teams without a win to their names yet, and already find themselves three points off safety.

The Bluebirds’ return to the top flight saw them fail to score in each of their opening three games, but recently they have begun to get forward and have brought us a few entertaining games. In fact, despite having to face Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester City since the start of September, they have managed to score in three of their last four games.

Cardiff’s only failure during this run was in their 5-0 thrashing at home to Manchester City, but Neil Warnock will fancy his teams’ chances of nicking a goal on Saturday. That’s because Spurs have only kept two clean sheets in the league this season, and one of those was in their shock win at Old Trafford where they could have easily conceded a few goals in the first half alone.

Indeed, Spurs’ shaky defence was brought even further into the limelight against Barcelona, where their back line was constantly exposed and Hugo Lloris seemed intent on taking a space on the back pages for all the wrong reasons. In all competitions Spurs have conceded 15 goals in ten games, keeping two clean sheets. This makes backing Both Teams to Score look a great option, along with a 3-1 win for the much stronger hosts.