Tottenham Hotspur will travel to Budapest this Thursday to take on Hungarian league champions Ferencvaros in their second Europa League fixture.
Spurs are coming off the back of a hard-fought 3-0 win over Qarabag FK in their opener. Despite losing Radu Dragusin to an early red card, Ange Postecoglou’s side held the fort and claimed a thrilling victory.
Spurs followed it with another resounding 3-0 win over the weekend against Manchester United, thumping the Premier League heavyweights in a delicious display.
Postecoglou will now focus on the Europa League clash against a tricky opponent that remains undefeated domestically.
Despite their domestic dominance, Ferencvaros have stuttered in Europe, crashing out of the UEFA Champions League qualifiers following a loss to Midtjylland. They also opened their Europa League campaign with a defeat to Anderlecht, and Spurs will back their chances of claiming victory on enemy soil.
A second win puts Spurs in a superb position to finish in the coveted top-eight spot in the new league format adopted by UEFA for European games. Tottenham sit fifth on the table, and another win could push the team into the upper echelons.
Spurs come into the game in stellar form after claiming four victories on the trot. Tottenham suffered a deflating loss to north London rivals Arsenal but have since battled back with excellent results against Coventry City, Brentford, Qarabag, and Man United.
Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski, and James Maddison are firing on all cylinders. However, Postecoglou must consider resting some key players for this game against Ferencvaros.
One crucial player who could miss the clash is defender Micky Van de Ven, who is notoriously injury-prone, and Postecoglou must manage his workload.
The Australian took off Van de Ven early against Man United and admitted that the centre-back played more minutes than they’d have liked him to, especially after the draining Qarabag game.
Postecoglou might consider giving the Dutchman a rest for the Europa League clash after his spectacular effort in the win over Man United.
Van de Ven dashed across 56.1 metres to set up Johnson’s opener with 155 seconds on the clock. Gary Neville described the run as absolutely incredible.
The former Manchester United defender enthused (via the Independent): “Van de Ven just steps in, and this is absolutely incredible. He drives through four Manchester United players and the cross. Well, it’s just wonderful. “There were enough players back to stop it, but it was unstoppable.”
Postecoglou will welcome Cristian Romero back into the XI. He missed the Qarabag meeting through suspension. He could partner Ben Davies in central defence. With Destiny Udogie carrying a knock from the United game, Djed Spence might deputise at left-back.
Yves Bissouma will likely return to the starting line-up despite his erratic outing against Qarabag, but Spurs continue to sweat over the fitness of captain Son Heung-min.
Tottenham Predicted XI v Ferencvaros
Guglielmo Vicario; Archie Gray, Cristian Romero, Ben Davies, Djed Spence; Yves Bissouma, Dejan Kulusevski, Lucas Bergvall; Timo Werner, Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson.