- Oct 17, 2006
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ANTWERP 1-0 SPURS
Refaelov
Spurs: Lloris (C), Aurier, Sanchez, Davies, Reguilon, Winks, Dele (Lamela), Lo Celso (Hojbjerg), Bergwijn (Lucas), Bale (Kane), Vinicius (Son). Refaelov
Subs: Hart, Doherty, Alderweireld, Cirkin, Clarke, White, Sissoko.
Antwerp: Butez, De Laet, Gelin, Seck, Miyoshi, Hongla, Haroun (C), Juklerod, Refaelov, Gerkens, Mbokani.
Subs: Beiranvand, Verstraete, Boya, Ampomah, Benavente, Buta.
Official Site Match Centre
Nine changes to the team that beat Burnley on Monday, with Hugo Lloris and Ben Davies the only players to start again. Dele makes his first start since KF Shkendija on 24 September. Gio Lo Celso last started against Macabbi Haifa on 1 October. Gareth Bale and Carlos Vinicius also start after making their full debuts against LASK last week.
TEAM FORM: - Antwerp - WWWWW ----- Spurs - WWDWW ----- (All competitions)
Antwerp welcome us to the Bosuilstadion in Antwerp, Belgium for the Uefa Europa League fixture on Thursday night. In match day two of the competition, the top two teams from Group J will go head-to-head in order to consolidate our grip on the top spot. Both of us won our opening fixtures by a margin of 2-1 and 3-0 against Ludogorets and LASK respectively. Both of us are also heading into the continental competition in fine form and are unbeaten in our last seven fixtures, so this matchup between us should make for an interesting and entertaining encounter.
The game at the Bosuilstadion will be the very first meeting between us in European competition. Royal Antwerp have faced English opposition on two previous occasions and ended up losing both games. We are winless on our travels to face Belgian opponents but, given our form, we expect to change that with a win in this game.
For Royal Antwerp, there is some good and bad news. The good news is that Coach Ivan Leko welcomes back defenders Jordan Lukaku and Abdoulaye Seck, as they both tested negative for COVID-19 in their latest round of testing and are allowed to resume training. The bad news for them is that two other players have since tested positive, namely, Dylan Batubinsika and Manuel Benson. Bruny Nsimba will be out of the game due to an adductor injury. There are no suspension concerns for the Belgian club heading into the fixture.
We have struggled with only minor injury concerns since the start of the season and do not have any serious concerns heading into the fixture.
As per the latest reports, only Japhet Tanganga and Eric Dier are out of the game, but we expect to see some changes in the starting XI from our win over Burnley.
We expect Bale to start, as he was on the bench against Burnley alongside striker Carlos Vinicius. Our side look like the clear favorites in this game given out form and Jose's immaculate record in the competition. He is unbeaten in his last 15 matches in the UEFA Europa League.
Kane and Son are in red-hot form at the moment and are combining wonderfully in front of the goal. That combination is capable of making an impact even if they make an appearance from the bench, which seems likely. Antwerp should not be underestimated. They are on a five-game winning streak and can cause problems for us, especially if we show any kind of weakness in defence. But Mourinho will be mindful of this and will prepare us well, leading to an away victory for us in this game.
Banner courtesy of @chrissivad
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