Tottenham get their Europa League campaign underway on Thursday night as they welcome Azerbaijani champions Qarabag to N17.
A fifth-place finish in Ange Postecoglou’s maiden season at the helm sees the Lilywhites return to the Europa League for the first time since they were humiliated by a manager-less Dinamo Zagreb in the 2020/21 iteration of the competition.
It was Dinamo who also ensured that Spurs’ upcoming opponents would not be playing Champions League football this season as they thumped them 5-0 over two legs in the play-offs.
Qarabag have otherwise enjoyed a strong start to the new season and they head into Thursday’s bout having won three on the bounce. Spurs are also in good spirits following their impressive 3-1 victory over Brentford on Saturday.
The length of the all-new league phase means victory on Matchday 1 isn’t paramount, but this is nonetheless a great chance for Spurs to get off to the best possible start.
Here’s 90min’s preview of Thursday’s Europa League clash.
Tottenham vs Qarabag H2H Record (All Games)
Current form (all competitions)
How to watch Tottenham vs Qarabag on TV and live stream
Tottenham team news
Postecoglou will make changes to the team that beat Brentford on Saturday, and the Tottenham boss will have at least one eye on the upcoming trip to Old Trafford.
Cristian Romero was sent off in Tottenham’s last European outing against Milan back in 2023 and is thus suspended for Thursday’s game. Radu Dragusin will come in for the Argentine.
Wilson Odobert and Richarlison are out injured for the hosts, but Yves Bissouma is back in contention. The Mali international made a substitute appearance off the bench at the weekend.
Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray are poised to come into Postecoglou’s XI.
Tottenham predicted lineup vs Qarabag
Tottenham predicted lineup vs Qarabag (4-3-3): Vicario; Gray, Dragusin, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bissouma, Bergvall, Sarr; Johnson, Solanke, Werner.
Qarabag team news
Centre-back Kevin Medina was sent off late on in the second leg of Qarabag’s Champions League play-off against Dinamo Zagreb and is suspended for Thursday’s game.
Abbas Huseynov will likely come in for Medina at the heart of the visitors’ defence.
Shahrudin Mahammadaliyev is out injured, while Amin Ramazanov is a long-term absentee having torn his ACL.
Qarabag predicted lineup vs Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Kochalski; Silva, Mustafazade, Huseynov, Cafarguliyev; L. Andrade, Romao; P. Andrade, Benzia, Zoubir; Juninho.
Qarabag proved in this competition last season that they’re no minnows, and they came ever so close to stunning Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 16. However, Dinamo’s dispatching of the Azerbaijani side in the Champions League play-offs may suggest a potential decline this season.
Nevertheless, this won’t be a cake-walk for Tottenham, who had struggled in the final third before putting three past Brentford at the weekend amid a notably fluid attacking display in which they were forced to play without the ball much more than in previous outings.
Qarabag are unlikely to come to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and dominate, instead challenging their hosts to break them down. This could be a tricky tie for Postecoglou’s side, but they should be brimming with confidence following their victory at the weekend.
