Football
Tottenham open Europa League campaign with 3-0 win vs Qarabag
Joe Lyons is a sports writer with years of experience on reputable sports and gambling websites. Joe has also been published by Nottingham Forest, working with the academy and senior teams to produce content on matchdays. He formerly covered the Premier League and EFL as an on-site reporter during the 2020/21 season for Prost International. He is an expert in a range of sports including soccer, basketball, horse racing and American football. Joe specialises in long form content alongside news, tips and betting. Joe has a keen eye for the sports betting industry in the USA which covers the NBA and NFL, tracking and analysing the market as it changes throughout the season.
Get to know Joe Lyons betterPublished2 hours ago on September 26, 2024
Tournament favourites Tottenham Hotspur eased to a 3-0 win over Qarabag to open their Europa League campaign in style.
Europa League favourites Spurs cruise to opening victory in North London
The hosts got off to a nightmare start when Radu Dragusin was shown a straight red card inside the opening ten minutes, fouling Juninho after making a clumsy mistake which put the Brazilian through on goal.
Nerves were eased just five minutes later when the man in red-hot form, Instagram-less Brennan Johnson bagged his third goal in as many games to give Spurs the lead – a strike which almost surely gets the fanbase back on side.
Seven minutes after the restart, Dejan Kulusevski’s corner was parried by Qarabag goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski into the path of Pape Sarr who made no mistake in doubling Tottenham’s advantage to give Ange Postecoglou‘s side a bit of much-needed breathing room.
Dominic Solanke set up the opener and the £65m summer signing got in on the act shortly after to make it three, reacting quickest to rebound home from a long-range effort by Heung-min Son which Kochalski failed to collect.
The finish marked Solanke’s second goal since arriving in North London from Bournemouth in early August, five days after netting his first against Brentford in the Premier League last weekend.
Brennan Johnson's fine form continues 🤩
Just moments after Radu Drăgușin is sent off, Spurs take the lead!
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/T1RNbFX4gy
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) September 26, 2024
Tottenham remain 5/1 tournament favourites ahead of Manchester United
According to the best football betting sites, Spurs stay strong at the top of the market as 5/1 favourites to lift the Europa League trophy in Bilbao next May.
The Lilywhites have not tasted major silverware since beating local rivals Chelsea in the League Cup final over 16 years ago, but their fortunes could be about to change.
Tottenham boss Postecoglou made headlines earlier this month when he defended his own claim that he ‘always wins trophies’ in his second season at a club.
“I’ll correct myself – I don’t usually win things, I always win things in my second year. Nothing’s changed. I’ve said it now. I don’t say things unless I believe them.”
The Greece-born manager who grew up in Melbourne, Australia was correct in his statement – supported with evidence from his former clubs South Melbourne, Brisbane Roar, Yokohama F Marinos, Celtic and the Australia national team.
There are only three clubs where has failed to win a trophy throughout his career – Panachaiki, Whittlesea Zebras, and Melbourne Victory – and he did not complete two full seasons in charge of any.
Manchester United pose the greatest danger to Spurs in the outright market at 6/1 to win the competition, followed by Athletic Bilbao (8/1), Roma (12/1) and Lazio (12/1).