Tottenham to bounce back against Gent, says Charlie Nicholas
Thursday 23 February 2017 19:56, UK
Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas provides us with his Europa League prediction for Tottenham v Gent...
The Soccer Saturday pundit tipped up a handsome Manchester City win against Monaco on Tuesday night to kick off an action-packed midweek schedule - but didn't quite foresee the eight-goal thriller that ensued at the Etihad.
He got the Sevilla v Leicester result correct and backed Manchester United to progress past St Etienne, although he predicted the Ligue 1 club would take the second leg 1-0.
Here's what Charlie is predicting for Tottenham v Gent...
Tottenham v Gent (Thursday, 8.05pm)
Tottenham were dreadful last Thursday but they found a way to bounce back against Fulham, which I thought was a dangerous tie.
When Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Heung-Min Son are getting on the ball early, then you know they are going to cause problems, and that was the difference between the two teams.
They've got Stoke at home on Sunday so I think he'll give a few more fringe players a chance than in the FA Cup, but Gent are an average team and I wouldn't be surprised if Spurs won 3-0, even with a few changes.
Charlie predicts: 3-0 and Dembele to score first (45/1 with Sky Bet)
Charlie predicted...
Sevilla v Leicester - RESULT: 2-1
You can see the annoyance and anger in Claudio Ranieri's face but is he changing things for the positive? Have they all stopped listening? There's so much going on at the club.
If you look at what got them into this competition, it was their spirit, togetherness and absolute hunger and I don't see much of that left in them. I keep mentioning the centre-backs as their big problem and I think he should try a back five.
I don't really think Leicester have got much of a chance and people are suggesting it could be a thrashing but I think if they sit in with a packed defence and leave a bit of pace up top, then they can limit the damage.
Charlie predicts: 2-0 and Vitolo to score first (22/1 with Sky Bet)
St Etienne v Manchester United - RESULT: 0-1
The job is done with a 3-0 win at Old Trafford, even though they didn't play well that well in the first leg.
I've been to St Etienne a few times as a fan and while they don't get huge numbers, it's quite a hostile stadium to go into.
With the cup final coming up at the weekend, Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be rested. I think Jose Mourinho will still go with a strong backline though, to ensure they've got a solid base.
Charlie predicts: 1-0 and Hamouma to score first (45/1 with Sky Bet)
Manchester City v Monaco - RESULT: 5-3
We know Monaco are a dangerous team now. They used to be very cautious and structured as a counter-attacking side and now they've scored 76 goals in Ligue 1. Everybody is raving about Kylian Mbappe-Lottin but we'll see how he performs on the big stage.
It feels like there's more belief in the Manchester City camp though. The defence is obviously still not right but they did look like they had a bit of a stronger core against Bournemouth, although I still don't like Yaya Toure in the defensive-midfield role.
I think if Pep Guardiola weighed things up, he'd probably rather win the Champions League and I'm confident they'll go far.
I think we'll get something else from Sergio Aguero because he knows he's got a good run back in the team if he plays well but Pep will drop him again if his level drops.
I'm looking at City to win by a couple of goals and I'd back Kevin De Bruyne to break the deadlock because he's a big-game player.
Charlie predicts: 3-1 and De Bruyne to score first
