- Oct 17, 2006
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SPURS 2-0 DINAMO ZAGREB
Kane (2)
Kane (2)
Spurs: Lloris (c), Aurier, Sanchez, Dier, Davies, Sissoko, Ndombele (Højbjerg) Dele (Bergwijn), Lamela(Bale), Son (Lucas), Kane (Vinicius).
Subs: Hart, Whiteman, Doherty, Alderweireld, Tanganga, Reguilon, Winks, .
Dinamo Zagreb: Livakovic, Ristovski, Lauritsen, Theophile-Catherine, Leovac, Majer, Jakic, Ademi (c), Ivanusec, Petkovic, Orsic.
Subs: Zagorac, Josipovic, Gavranovic, Cabraja, Kastrati, Tolic, Burton, J Misic, Stojanovic, Franjoc, Peric, Atiemwen.
Official Site Match Centre
In come Aurier, Dier, Davies, Sissoko, Ndombele, Dele and Lamela for Doherty, Alderweireld, Reguilon, Hojbjerg, Winks, Bale and Lucas.
TEAM FORM: Spurs - LWWWW ------- Zagreb - WWWWW ------- (All Competitons)
We will be looking to stretch our winning streak when we host Dinamo Zagreb in the first leg of our Europa Cup last-16 tie on Thursday evening. We have won four games in a row in all competitions, though opponents Zagreb have been in even better form of late, winning eight matches on the spin.
We appear to have turned a corner since the end of last month - not only in terms of results but also our performances. We have won five of our last six, scoring 17 and conceding four during that run, which culminated in a 4-1 league victory against Crystal Palace on Sunday. That was arguably our most impressive victory of the lot, with Kane, Son, Lucas and Bale linking brilliantly in attack. Mourinho's decision to seemingly take off the handbrake has paid off and the Portuguese, who has won the Europa League/ UEFA Cup both times he has participated in it, will be hoping that we maintain that momentum. We eased past Austrian minnows Wolfsberger in the last round, following up a 4-1 away win with a 4-0 victory on home soil, but this showdown with Zagreb will be a far tougher test for us. The Croatian champions have been in ruthless form since the start of February, having won eight games from eight and kept seven clean sheets in the process.
Dinamo have won six games in a row in the Europa League, meanwhile, which is their best ever run in Europe, and are unbeaten in nine in UEFA's secondary competition. Zoran Mamic’s men were given a difficult time of things by Krasnodar in the last round, though Mislav Orsic’s's goal 30 minutes into the second leg sealed a 4-2 aggregate win. Taking us on over two legs will be a step up for Zagreb, of course, and they have a poor record against English teams in Europe. The Blues have lost nine of their last 10 such games, the exception being a 2-1 victory against Arsenal in the 2015-16 Champions League group stage. We, by comparison, have won five of our seven previous encounters with Croatian teams, all but two of those meetings being against Hajduk Split.
Lo Celso remains our only real fitness doubt for this game, though Aurier is unlikely to be risked after sustaining a knock. Centre-back Rodon will also play no part on Thursday as he was not registered in our European squad. Mourinho may have been tempted to field a stronger-than-usual side in the Europa League for this game, but we face rivals Arsenal on Sunday so changes can be expected. Dele, Dier, Tangana and Ndombele are among those pushing for recalls, with the likes of Kane, Bale and Son likely to be given a breather.
As for the visitors Sadegh Moharrami is their only known injury absentee for this trip to North London. Bartol Franjic is back in contention after serving a ban in the second-leg win against Krasnodar, but Mamic may well go with the same XI that started that most recent European match.
Disclaimer - I am not sure if true, but I understand that this match may be changed to an away one as Arsenal is also playing at home.
Banner courtesy of @chrissivad
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