The 2020/21 UEFA Europa League Round of 32 reaches the second leg stage and on Wednesday the 24th of February we have a meeting between Tottenham Hotspur and Wolfsberger AC.
The match will be played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London and the hosts come into the game with a 4-1 advantage from the first leg.
A big win in Budapest 👊@KumhoTyreUK ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/c8mbFkXNc9— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 19, 2021
A big win in Budapest 👊@KumhoTyreUK ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/c8mbFkXNc9
This fixture has been moved from Thursday night, meaning it will be the first Europa League Round of 32 tie to be settled this season. However, it appears as though the tie was already settled in the first leg as Spurs came away from Hungary with a 4-1 win.
Son Heung-min opened the scoring after only 13 minutes and Gareth Bale doubled their advantage 15 minutes later. Lucas Moura made it 3-0 before half-time and Spurs were comfortable.
Wolfsberger AC did pull a goal back from the penalty spot early in the second half but Spurs added a fourth 2 minutes from time.
That result means Spurs are undefeated in their last 5 Europa League matches picking up victories over Ludogorets (twice) and Antwerp in the group stages. Home form in the competition shows 4 straight victories and Spurs have kept a clean sheet in each of their last 3 Europa League fixtures at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Scoring goals has also come easy at home for Spurs in the Europa League and they have scored at least 2 goals in each of their last 5 home games in the competition.
Wolfsberger AC performed superbly to qualify from their Europa League group this season. Having been drawn with Dinamo Zagreb, Feyenoord, and CSKA Moscow, the Austrian club were the outsiders to progress from the group. However, they recorded some excellent results including a victory in Russia against CSKA Moscow.
Nonetheless, their time in the competition is about to come to an end following the heavy 4-1 defeat in the first leg of this tie. Unfortunately for Wolfsberger AC, they were forced to play their home leg in Hungary, thus losing their home advantage, which was disappointing for the players and fans.
Away form in the Europa League this season shows two victories on the road for Wolfsberger AC, at Feyenoord and CSKA Moscow. So, they will not give up but face a monumental task to turn things around.
Team news and Tottenham Hotspur can afford to rest some first team regulars. That could mean starts for Dele Alli, Gareth Bale, Ben Davies, Harry Winks, and Toby Alderweireld. Serge Aurier and Giovani Lo Celso are injured.
Wolfsberger AC are without Eliel Peretz who has a muscle injury. They are expected to play with one striker in a bid to keep things tight.
Spurs are the heavy favourites to record a victory in this game and they should do so by scoring 2 or more goals. The hosts will also be keen to keep a clean sheet and that should not prove too difficult against this opposition.