Sports Mole previews Thursday’s Europa League clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Qarabag FK, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Tottenham Hotspur make their return to European competition when they welcome Azeri champions Qarabag FK to North London in the Europa League on Thursday.
Ange Postecoglou will have been delighted to see them drawn at home against their upcoming opponents, avoiding the long-haul trek across Europe and into the Asian border in Azerbaijan.
Match preview
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It has been something of an underwhelming start for Tottenham in both league and cup so far this season, as they sit in mid-table after five Premier League games.
Spurs have won the games they were fully expected to come out on top in, at home to Everton and Brentford, but have struggled against opponents above that level.
Postecoglou’s side struggled to lay a glove on North London rivals Arsenal, while profligacy in front of goal cost them dearly in trips to Leicester City and Newcastle United.
Even the win against Brentford at the weekend definitely could have gone either way, but Spurs got over the line to win 3-1 and take their tally to seven points.
While the home faithful will be glad to have European football back at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Champions League is what they desired, so losing out to Aston Villa was a huge disappointment, especially given the start they made to last season, with 26 points from their opening 10 games.
Even though Postecoglou remains adamant he only chases titles, and not solely the top four, that is where Spurs will hope to finish this time around, meaning the clash with Manchester United on Sunday is set to take priority over this clash.
The Spurs boss has promised silverware this season though, as he bluntly stated he always wins trophies within two years no matter where he works, therefore placing huge importance on this competition, and they must avoid any potential early slip-ups.
Concerningly though, since reaching the 2019 Champions League final, Spurs have been woeful on the continent, failing to score in either leg of their last 16 defeat to AC Milan in the 2022-23 Champions League.
The season previous, Spurs were eliminated in the Conference League group stage, just months after being knocked out of the Europa League by Dinamo Zagreb, despite leading 2-0 from the first leg.
Before that collapse in Croatia, Spurs did show promising signs in the Europa League, meaning they come into this clash having lost just one of their last eight games in the competition, which was that defeat to Dinamo.
While Spurs focused solely on domestic matters last season, Qarabag had their best European campaign to date, and they were just minutes from a historic win to reach the quarter-finals of this competition.
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Bayer Leverkusen stole the headlines across Europe for their incredible unbeaten run last season, but no team came closer to ending that run than Qarabag, who led 2-0 in both legs of their last 16 tie, and were also heading through entering the 93rd minute of the second leg.
However, a last-gasp double saw the tie switch hands and the Germans progressed, leaving knockout debutants Qarabag heartbroken.
That was the first time the Azeri’s had progressed past the group stages in the Europa League in eight attempts, taking 10 points off Hacken and Molde to progress.
In the new format, 10 points should be enough to see them into the knockout stages again, but they have often struggled to perform once reaching the competition proper in Europe.
Qarabag have lost all six of their previous meetings against English clubs, including two against Spurs back in 2015, when they led at White Hart Lane, but eventually fell to a 3-1 defeat.
Despite facing one of the favourites in Tottenham, according to coefficient, Qarabag have the second-easiest draw of any team in the league phase, as games against Malmo, Bodo/Glimt, FCSB and Elfsborg will certainly be targeted as they aim for the top 24.
A strong start to September with three wins from three mean Qarabag have returned to the summit after underperforming in August.
Alarm bells may have started ringing when they went 4-2 down on aggregate with 45 minutes to play against Ludogorets Razgrad in Champions League qualifying, despite going on to win 8-4 in a remarkable encounter.
Qurban Qurbanov‘s side would go on to lose heavily to Dinamo Zagreb in the next round though, and they also suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to Turan when they were resounding favourites, but those recent wins mean they are a point clear at the top of the Premyer Liqasi.
Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions):
Qarabag FK form (all competitions):
Team News
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Postecoglou is likely to rotate heavily with the Man United encounter on its way just three days after this one, as the whole front four could change for Tottenham.
Dominic Solanke, who did start in their recent cup win over Coventry City, is the most likely player to keep his place, given the lack of other options up front, and the fact that another goal here could help him settle in more after his move from Bournemouth.
Attack is where Spurs are weakened by injuries at present, with Richarlison and Wilson Odobert, who was forced off early in the EFL Cup last week, both currently sidelined.
Son Heung-min scored the first two of his 164 Tottenham goals against Qarabag back in 2015, but the South Korean is likely to be held in reserve here and kept fresh for the weekend.
Qarabag defender Kevin Medina‘s sending off against Dinamo Zagreb in their Champions League playoff means he will serve a one-match European ban here.
Marko Jankovic was the only injury concern for the visitors, but he returned as a late substitute in their 4-0 win over Neftci Baku on Friday.
Juninho is their key man in Europe, as he scored in both of their ties with Leverkusen last season, contributing to the six goals he managed in the Europa League, while the Brazilian also netted six in six UCL qualifiers during the summer.
Naturalised Azerbaijan international Richard Almeyda scored Qarabag’s opener at White Hart Lane nine years ago, but the veteran midfielder is likely to start as a substitute here.
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Forster; Gray, Dragusin, Davies, Spence; Sarr, Bentancur, Bergvall; Johnson, Solanke, Werner
Qarabag FK possible starting lineup:
Kochalski; Matheus da Silva, Mustafazada, B Huseynov, Cafarquliyev; Romao, Patrick Andrade; Leandro Andrade, Benzia, Zoubir; Juninho
We say: Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Qarabag FK
Even though Postecoglou is likely to ring the changes, Spurs should still have more than enough firepower to record a routine matchday one victory here.
Qarabag rarely travel well, and their record against English clubs is damning, with six losses from six, and there is little to suggest they can arrest that run here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.