Tottenham travel to the Netherlands in their opening Europa League RO16 leg, as Ange Postecoglou’s side face AZ Alkmaar and you can find our preview, prediction, team news and confirmed lineups below.
AZ Alkmaar vs Tottenham Preview
Tottenham made their way into the Europa League Round of 16 after finishing fourth in the group stages, earning automatic qualification.
During their eight games in the opening phase, Spurs conceded just nine goals and scored 17 – beating the likes of Hoffenheim, Qarabag, Ferencavos and Elfsborg.
The Tottenham Hotspur manager has been under increasing amounts of pressure in recent months, as Spurs sit 13th in the Premier League and winning just two of their last five matches across all competitions.
As for AZ Alkmaar, they earned a place in the Europa League RO16 after finishing 19th in the group stages and beating Galatasaray 6-3 on aggregate in the play off phases.
The Dutch side struggled in the group stages, picking up just 11 points from eight matches and finishing on a goal difference of zero.
These two teams have already faced off in the Europa League this season, as a Richarlison penalty secured a 1-0 victory for Spurs in north London.
AZ Alkmaar vs Tottenham Team News
The Eredivisie side will not be able to call upon Sven Mijnans as he continues to recover from an Achilles tendon problem and Jayden Addai is also out of action.
Ruben van Bommel and Mexx Meerdink failed late fitness tests after dealing with minor knocks in recent weeks and will not feature.
Tottenham have endured a torrid time with injuries this season and were dealt another blow as Dejan Kulusevski misses this European clash with a foot injury.
Radu Dragusin, Dominic Solanke and Richarlison are all 100% ruled out, while Antonin Kinsky, Fraser Forster, Timo Werner and Sergio Reguilon cannot feature as they were not selected for Spurs’ Europa League side.
Ange Postecoglou did provide some positive news in his pre-match press conference, as the Australian revealed that Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven have returned to training and are both on the bench.
AZ Alkmaar vs Tottenham Confirmed Lineups
AZ Alkmaar: Owusu-Oduro; Maikuma, Goes, Penetra, Moller Wolfe; Clasie, Koopmeiners; Poku, Buurmeester, Lahdo; Parrott
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario; Spence, Gray, Danso, Udogie; Maddison, Bentancur, Bergvall; Johnson, Tel, Son
AZ Alkmaar vs Tottenham Prediction
Tottenham are the favourites to find a win in the Netherlands on UK betting sites, as they already boast a win over AZ Alkmaar this season.
With that in mind, we expect the Premier League outfit to have enough quality on Thursday evening and secure a two-goal advantage going into the second-leg.
Prediction: AZ Alkmaar 1-3 Tottenham
