Tottenham Hotspur can seal their place in the knockout stages of the Europa League by beating Qarabag FK in Azerbaijan on Thursday evening.

Mauricio Pochettino's side are on an impressive run of form and have already triumphed over their opponents in this season's tournament.

Qarabag

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Another successful season looks in store for Qarabag, who have won the last two Azerbaijan Premier League titles and are on course for a third.

The Horsemen are currently nine points clear of their nearest rivals in the top flight and have suffered just one defeat.

Their dominance at home has seen them reach the early stages of qualification for the Champions League, but in the last two seasons they have missed out on a spot in the lucrative group stage.

A narrow defeat to Celtic saw them fail to reach the playoffs as they dropped down to the Europa League, but they made sure of their place in the group stages of the tournament with a thumping 4-0 aggregate win over Young Boys .

They then started with a group opener against Spurs that ended in defeat, but they followed that up with a memorable 1-0 victory over Anderlecht.

A late defeat to Monaco followed in their next fixture, but in the return meeting between the teams they shared a 1-1 draw that has kept alive their hopes of going through.

Recent form: WWDWW

Tottenham

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Having enjoyed a fine start to the season, there are high hopes that Tottenham can challenge for honours and seal a top-four finish.

They continued their impressive Premier League form at the weekend by cruising to a 4-1 win over West Ham United that has seen them move up to fifth in the table.

That result saw the Lillywhites extend their unbeaten league run to 12 games, after suffering their only defeat on the opening day against Manchester United.

It is not just in the league where Spurs have prospered, as they are well placed to reach the last 32 in the Europa League after topping Group J.

They kicked off their group-stage campaign with a win over Qarabag, before a late strike from Stephen El Shaarawy denied them all three points in a draw at Monaco.

In their next game at Anderlecht they took an early lead before eventually slipping to a 2-1 defeat, but when the teams met two weeks later a stunning goal from Mousa Dembele secured a vital win to leave then within touching distance of a knockout berth.

Recent form: WWWDW

Team News

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Pochettino is expected to make a number of changes to his side with a crucial London derby against Chelsea to come on Sunday afternoon.

Andros Townsend could return after his recent exile from the first team, while there may also be a rare start for Clinton N'Jie in the forward line.

However, Nabil Bentaleb and Nacer Chadli will both miss out on the trip to Azerbaijan after suffering ankle injuries.

Meanwhile, the hosts are expected to start with Sweden international Samuel Armenteros in their attack, with Brazilian Richard Almeida also providing a threat from the midfield.

Qarabag possible starting lineup:
Sehic, Agoli, Garayev, Medvedev, Sadygov, Huseynov, El Jadeyaoui, Quintana, Ismayilov, Almeida, Armenteros

Tottenham possible starting lineup:
Lloris, Trippier, Dier, Vertonghen, Davies, Alli, Townsend, Eriksen, Mason, N'Jie, Kane

Head To Head

This will be only the second meeting between the two teams after their previous group clash at White Hart Lane in September.

Almeida had given the visitors an early lead from the penalty spot, but Son Heung-min's quick-fire double and a late strike from Erik Lamela ensured that Spurs earned a 3-1 win by the end of the night.

We say: Qarabag 0-1 Tottenham

With a packed schedule of fixtures coming up it is hard to predict just what side Pochettino will send out. However, Spurs have been in outstanding form in recent months and should have enough to edge past their resilient opponents to secure their progress in Europe.

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