Betting Match Preview: Bournemouth v Tottenham (Pre-Season Friendly)

Bournemouth v Tottenham, pre-season friendly, July 17, 2009

Bournemouth 15/2; Draw 7/2; Tottenham 2/7

Having confidently dispatched Exeter 3-nil in their first pre-season friendly, Tottenham’s next warm-up match sees the Lillywhites head to Dorest on Friday night as they head to League Two outfit AFC Bournemouth.

The match is a 9,000 sell-out at Dean’s Court with Spurs reported to be ready to show off their full galaxy of talent by bringing a full-strength squad to the match.

The links between Spurs and Bournemouth are numerous. Current Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp spent four years as a player for the Cherries between 1972-76 before becoming the club’s most celebrated manager after taking the reigns for nine long seasons as ‘Arry began life on the sidelines. Spurs’ current assistant manager Kevin Bond will be well-versed in all things Bournemouth having presided as the club’s manager until he was sacked eleven months ago.

Harry will likely make a series of changes in the match with the Cherries as he looks to work the fitness of his entire squad. Against Exeter Spurs changed their entire team between the first and second half, and a similar experiment is expected on Friday. That saw run outs for a host of fringe players in the North Londoners squad with Kevin-Prince Boateng, David Bentley, Pascal Chimbonda, Darren Bent and Roman Pavlyuchenko all getting a half to shine.

Bornemouth, who last year survived relegation out of the football league with a dramatic win on the final day of the season by beating Grimsby Town, should pose the Premier Leaguers little bother. Arguably, the best manager Eddie Howe can hope for is the his Cherries play out a competitive match.

101predicts: Bournemouth 1 - Tottenham 4

Bournemouth 15/2; Draw 7/2; Tottenham 2/7