Tottenham have to fight back after the 1-0 first-leg loss when they face Belgian side Gent at White Hart Lane on Tuesday in the second leg of their UEFA Europa League clash. Despite having fielded a full-strength starting eleven in the first leg Tottenham were defeated and failed to dominate the game as well. Tottenham have always prevailed when facing opposition from Belgium over two legs, including the UEFA Cup final success over Anderlecht back in 1984, when the Spurs won on penalties.
Tottenham's 1-0 loss at Gent last week was their second consecutive defeat in all competitions, coming after a 2-0 Premier League defeat at Liverpool. Manager Mauricio Pochettino decided to field his best players against Championship side Fulham in the FA Cup last weekend and the choice paid off as Harry Kane bagged a hat-trick in a 3-0 victory. Erik Lamela is not yet ready to make his return from a hip injury, while Danny Rose is close to returning from injury but will probably sit this one out.
The victory over Tottenham in the first leg was a rare moment of joy for the Gent fans as their side is still struggling in the Belgian top flight. Last weekend they secured a 1-1 draw at Standard Liege, but they remain eighth in the league table after having won just one of their last five league matches. The good news for head coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck is that he doesn't have any fresh injury concerns ahead of this match, so he will most likely field the exactly same starting eleven that beat the Spurs last week.
Probable line-ups:
Tottenham: Lloris - Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies - Winks, Wanyama - Son Heung-Min, Alli, Eriksen - Kane
Gent: Rinne - Gigot, Mitrovic, Asare - Foket, Esiti, Dejaegere, Saief - Milicevic, Simon - Perbet
My prediction: Tottenham to win 2-0.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Tottenham win - 1.50
Draw - 3.30
Gent win - 13.00
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Comments (1)
sharpe
03/01/17, 12:03:09 AM
The performance of Tottenham in the European tournaments this season was clear disaster and the pick of it was in this two games against Gent. The difference in...
The performance of Tottenham in the European tournaments this season was clear disaster and the pick of it was in this two games against Gent. The difference in class is just enormous in Spurs favour but they still found a way to loose it. Belgian side was quite lucky in this match too but in the end they clinched the draw against 10 men Spurs which was enough for the end success.
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