Tottenham players prepare to welcome back Berbatov

Paddy Power open betting on who will foul the Bulgarian first

Dimitar Berbatov makes his first return to White Hart Lane as a Manchester United player and it’s not just the home fans that Paddy Power are expecting to give him a cold reception. The Irish bookmakers have opened a market on which Spurs player will be the first to foul the Bulgarian striker and while Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate have been made obvious 4/1 favourites, here are a few outsiders who may challenge:

The scapegoat - Jermaine Jenas - 11/2
When Nigel Reo-Coker visited the Boleyn Ground for the first time since leaving for Aston Villa, it was West Ham’s scapegoat Luis Boa Morte who set about making the hated ex-player’s return an unhappy one in an attempt to curry favour. Jenas is the Spurs outfield player who struggles the most to win over the supporters but that could change if he gives Berbatov some grief.

The jilted lover - Didier Zokora - 8/1
Juande Ramos revealed this week that the Spurs player he admired the most was Zokora. The Ivorian may therefore be aware that were it not for Berbatov wanting to leave this summer, Spurs could have started the season strongly and he could still be listening to his favourite manager giving him dietary advice in training rather than ‘Arry talking about how they used to eat steak before games in his day.

The local guy - Jamie O’Hara - 9/1
Besides King, O’Hara is the only first-teamer at Spurs to have come through the academy (albeit after a spell at Arsenal) so, according to footballing cliché, can relate to the fans better than most. He also has fouling form having picked up four yellows and a red already this season. He may be on the bench but Spurs should start him: they have won all six games he has featured in under Redknapp, making him the anti-Bale.

Posted: December 11th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn |