Just 48 hours after knocking Chelsea out of the EFL Cup on penalties, Tottenham Hotspur return to action on Thursday for a Europa League play-off clash against Maccabi Haifa.
Spurs were completely outplayed in the first half against Chelsea but rallied after the break. Erik Lamela cancelled out Timo Werner’s first-half strike with seven minutes remaining.
🏃💨 @sergio_regui 👀#THFC ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/avF98dAkTR— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 30, 2020
🏃💨 @sergio_regui 👀#THFC ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/avF98dAkTR
After Tottenham scored all of their spot kicks, Mason Mount’s missed penalty sent Jose Mourinho’s men into the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup.
Spurs’ Premier League campaign has started with a string of mixed results. They sit eighth in the table following a loss to Everton (1-0), a win over Southampton (5-2) and a draw with Newcastle (1-1).
Tottenham have also scraped through two Europa League qualifying rounds to reach this stage, edging Lokomotiv Plovdiv (2-1) before beating Shkendija (3-1).
Heung-min Son has been the star of the show so far, racking up five goals and two assists in five appearances in all competitions, while Harry Kane has three goals and five assists in six games.
Meanwhile, Maccabi Haifa have made it through three Europa League qualifying rounds to reach the final play-off stage.
The Israeli side kicked off their campaign by seeing off Zeljeznicar (3-1) before edging past Kairat (2-1) in the second qualifying round.
Last time out, they came from behind to beat FC Rostov (2-1), thanks to goals from Nikita Rukavytsya and Mohammad Abu Fani.
Domestically, Maccabi Haifa have made a perfect start to the season. Back-to-back victories have seen the club climb to the top of the Israeli Premier League table.
Head-to-head: This is the very first meeting between Tottenham and Maccabi Haifa, so we have no previous results to assess for this game.
Team news: Tottenham will be without top scorer Son due to injury, with returning hero Gareth Bale not yet fit enough to make the squad.
As for Maccabi Haifa, winger Yanic Wildschut isn’t likely to feature after contracting coronavirus earlier in the month.
It’s worth pointing out that both teams have scored in each of Maccabi Haifa’s previous six Europa League games.
Of course, Spurs are favourites to win this game. But the Israeli side are likely to push the Premier League club all the way.
Forebet predicts that Tottenham will advance with a narrow victory. Both teams are likely to score, but Spurs are expected to come out on top.