|
· Ludogorets 1 Spurs 3, 05.11.20
· Preview of Ludogrets away match
· See the current injury list for all Premier League Teams
· All the Spurs Stats you could hope for here! THFC6061 Sports Stats
Spurs' record in Europe:-
U.E.F.A Champions League
P W D L F - A
45 19 9 17 82 - 68
(Finalists 2019)
European Cup
P W D L F - A
8 4 1 3 21 - 13
(Semi-Finalists 1962)
European Cup Winners Cup
P W D L F - A
33 20 5 8 65 - 34
(Winners 1963)
UEFA Cup/Europa League
P W D L F - A
146 83 36 27 294-127
(Winners 1972, 1984
Finalists 1974)
Total
P W D L F - A
232 126 51 55 462-242
Europa League Group J
P W D L F-A GD Pts
1. Spurs 3 2 0 1 6-2 4 6
2. Antwerp 3 2 0 1 3-2 1 6
3. LASK 3 2 0 1 5-6 -1 6
4. Ludogorets 3 0 0 3 5-9 -4 0
Covid-19 is making the underdogs' task even harder
Ludogorets have travelled to London amidst rumours that this game is at risk due to the Bulgarian side suffering a number of absences due to Covid-19. Their game at home to Botev Plovdiv last Saturday was postponed as I understand it because Ludogorets had more than 10 players diagnosed with COVID-19. However, they are here, and apparently the game is not at risk. Despite the postponed game, Ludogorets remain two points ahead of Lokomotiv Plovdiv at the top of their league.
UEFA'S rules are very clear and if the Bulgarians cannot muster a 13-man squad they will have to forfeit the game 3-0. If necessary Ludogorets would be able to draw from outside their declared 25-player squad to find the necessary 13. Apparently central defenders Olivier Verdon and Georgi Terziev have tested positive and Ludogorets will also be missing the injured centre-back Josue Sa as well as winger Kiril Despodov. Terziev and Verdon played in the away match which we won 3-1. Josue Sa was unused on the bench in that game.
The one game our opponents have played since was on 8th November away to CSKA 1948, where they won 3-0 with Keseru scoring two of the goals. It was Keseru who scored in our game.
Jose Mourinho knows that the quest to ensure qualification will not be over even if we win this game, as expected. LASK are hosting Antwerp and a winner of that game would also have 9 points along with Tottenham. Next week's visit to Austria will be crucial for Spurs.
First we have to win this game, and we know we will be without Toby Alderweireld, who suffered a muscular injury against Man City and will be out for 2 to 4 weeks, which is not as bad as we might have anticipated. Erik Lamela is not likely to be available for next Sunday's game, let alone this one tomorrow. Matt Doherty is available, and I imagine champing at the bit for a game.
Presumably Davinson Sanchez will get a game next to Eric Dier, although it would not be a surprise if Jose played Ben Davies at centre-back again with Reguilon at left back. Joe Rodon is not available as he was not signed in time to be registered for these Group games. Hopefully Davinson's hurt pride has been restored since he played the full 90 minutes of Colombia's 6-1 defeat away to Ecuador in a World Cup qualifer last week. Everton's Yerry Mina was supended so we can't put the blame on him!
Harry Winks will be available for selection, and everyone in the squad in the midfield and attacking positions will be only too keen to play. I'll wait for the manager's selection, but I suspect he will start strong and hope to be able to rest three key players required for Sunday's clash at Stamford Bridge. Gareth Bale ought to be fresh, having sat on the bench for the City game.
Harry Kane scored his landmark 200th club goal in the away game. This goal was also the 500th scored by an English club in the UEFA Europa League, group stage to final. I think we will win this game by three clear goals, so 3-0 or 4-1 for me.
I thought it would be interesting to list our head-to-head clashes in European games over the last 10 years, all of which can be found via the Spurs Odyssey archives page
Recent "head-to-head" European games
Champions League
2010-11 Inter (A) Oct 20 - "Bale the hero at San Siro"
Inter (H) Nov 02 - "Simply the best"
Europa League
2011-12 Rubin Kazan (H) Oct 20 - "Getting away with it"
Rubin Kazan (A) Nov 03 - "Edged out in Russia"
2012-13 Maribor (A) Oct 25 - "Only a draw in Maribor"
Maribor (H) Nov 08 - "Defoe hat-trick tames Slovenians"
2013-14 FC Sheriff (A) Oct 24 - "Job done but not much fun"
FC Sheriff (H) Nov 07 - "Defoe penalty seals record"
2014-15 Asteras Tripolis (H) Oct 23 - "Andy Porter would have enjoyed this"
Asteras Tripolis (A) Nov 06 - "They're two of our own!"
2015-16 RSC Anderlecht (A) Oct 22 - "Anderlecht win their cup final"
RSC Anderlecht (H) Nov 05 - "Oh-oh Dembele, Bam-a-lam!"
Champions League
2016-17 Bayer Leverkusen (A) Oct 18 - "Lloris saves Spurs for a good away point"
Bayer Leverkusen (H) Nov 02 - "Spurs beat crowd record, but not Leverkusen"
2017-18 Real Madrid (A) - Oct 17 - "Simply one of the best Tottenham nights!"
Real Madrid (H) - Nov 01 - "Magnificent Spurs get historic win!"
2018-19 PSV Eindhoven (A) - Oct 24 - "Some zippy football, but bungles cost Spurs"
PSV Eindhoven (H) - Nov 06 - "Spurs won the battle, but can they win the war?"
2019-20 Crvena Zvezda (H) - Oct 22 - "Five Star Tottenham - Red Star 0"
Crvena Zvezda (A) - Nov 06 - "Slick Spurs gain 4-stroke win!"
Match referee Giorgi Kruashvili and his on-field officials are from Georgia. Once again this season the referee is new to Spurs. Last season Mr. Kruashvili was in charge of a match featuring one of our Group J opponents - LASK - when they beat Rosenborg away.
Did you know? - Alan Pardew, the former Newcastle manager, has joined CSKA Sofia as their technical director. Pardew, 59, left his previous job as manager of Dutch club Den Haag when the Eredivisie season was cancelled in April because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is Pardew’s first director of football role, having managed eight teams during his career, including West Ham, Southampton and Crystal Palace. CSKA have won a record 31 Bulgarian titles, but none since 2007-08. They are currently in third place. Pardew is often mentioned in connection with our (unwilling) participaton in the 1995 Inter-Toto Cup when we fielded teams consisting mostly of loaned players, such as Pardew, and youth players. Not even the official UEFA match preview kit makes reference to our involvement in that competition as being on official records!
Finally, R.I.P Diego Maradona, whose passing has been announced only this afternoon (25.11.20). He will always be remembered as one of the greatest ever footballers, and he did wear a Spurs shirt once too!
Top of page | Index to 2020-21 Match Reports
|
