Spurs vs Arsenal betting tips

With Chelsea now through to the Final of the Carling Cup following their 4-0 victory over Wycombe last night, we are now guaranteed an all London affair, with bitter rivals Spurs and Arsenal doing battle in the other semi-final, the first leg of which takes place at White Hart Lane this evening. It will be interesting to see the team selections what with FA Cup fourth round matches taking place over the weekend and then the second leg of this tie to follow next Wednesday. As such, it's a pretty congested period for both sides. But I can't imagine that either manager will want to lead their side this far without endeavouring to reach the Final. And there is, needless to say, north London pride at stake. Spurs will be without Teemu Tainio, skipper Ledley King, Jermaine Jenas, Mido and Paul Stalteri. But they are still likely to fielder a stronger team than Arsenal, who have invariably relied on their young guns in this competition. Having said that, those young guns - interspersed within which will be experienced players like Julio 'The Beast' Baptista - have demonstrated in the last two rounds that their inexperience is counteracted by their ability. Indeed, the Gunners' bright young things aren't especially popular in Merseyside at present. After taking the scalp of Everton at Goodison Park in the penultimate round, Arsenal gave Liverpool a veritable hiding when beating the Reds by six goals to three at Anfield, the highlight of which was a quartet of strikes for 'The Beast'. As such, it wouldn't be wise to underestimate these youngsters. In their last ten visits to 'The Lane', the Gunners have prevailed twice, seven matches have ended all square and the home side have claimed just one victory. Generally speaking, clashes between these clubs result in low goalscoring affairs. Five of the seven draws alluded to earlier were either 0-0 or 1-1. However, the lions share of those games were Premiership fixtures, therefore both sides were fielding their best XI available, so I wouldn't bet against this game producing far more goals. It's likely that the greater desire will rest with Spurs, as they will aim to establish a lead ahead of the second leg, while also gaining vengeance for the 3-0 defeat they suffered at The Emirates in December. With the home fans behind them in what is likely to be a capacity crowd at 'The Lane', if I was pressed to nominate a likely outcome it would probably be a Spurs win. But at a top-priced 6/4 I don't see this as being a value bet. To my mind, the most solid option for punters is to plum for Jermaine Defoe in the anytime goalscorer market at 2/1 with Coral. The Lilywhites' striker has looked sharp recently and, after enduring a lengthy period where he was seeing keeping the bench warm as opposed to gracing the pitch, the 24-year-old will be keen to cement his credentials as a first-choice forward. Verdict - 2pts Jermaine Defoe in the anytime goalscorer market @ 2/1 (Coral)