One of the competition favourites Tottenham Hotspur continue their pursuit of a long-awaited trophy when they host out-of-form AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League on Thursday.
Ange Postecoglou's side returned to form with a crushing victory over London rivals West Ham United on Saturday, and are still on maximum points in this competition.
Match preview
© Imago
After an underwhelming start and a complete capitulation away to Brighton & Hove Albion shortly before the international break, a positive result was much needed in front of a home crowd for Tottenham at the weekend.
Despite an early scare that saw the Hammers go in front, Spurs rallied to level before the interval, and an eight-minute second-half salvo saw them plunder a further three goals beyond a hapless West Ham side in an ultimately routine 4-1 victory.
Thoughts of what could have been after their trip to the Amex remain though, as Spurs should have been out of sight, but still conspired to lose the game, meaning they are still four points off the top four despite Saturday's success.
The Europa League could be seen as a priority for manager Postecoglou, though, considering he has promised Tottenham fans a trophy this season, and they have made an excellent start to the league phase.
In the last seven games, the only outing Spurs have failed to win was that trip to Brighton, and their opening two Europa League games ended in victory during that spell.
Despite going down to 10 men inside 10 minutes against Qarabag, Spurs still managed to win 3-0, and they produced a professional away performance in Budapest to beat Ferencvaros on matchday two.
That leaves Spurs as one of five clubs still to have a 100% record in the UEL, with only Lazio and Lyon above them on goal difference.
Extending that to three wins from three appears a huge possibility too, considering Spurs have won all six Europa League games at their new stadium without conceding a goal.
Across all European competitions, Spurs are imperious at home too, having gone unbeaten in their last 14 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - winning 12.
© Imago
For AZ, they could not have picked a worse time to face their most difficult assignment on paper in the league phase, with Maarten Martens's side in the midst of a four-game losing run - their worst sequence in 22 years.
Since defeating Elfsborg on matchday one, the Alkmaar club have seriously struggled with the increase in quality of their opponents.
The next Europa League fixture saw them travel to Athletic Bilbao, a club who very rarely fail to win at home, and they had to face a dominant PSV Eindhoven side over the weekend.
Losing to both Utrecht at home and Fortuna Sittard is where the disappointment lies, though, and those three consecutive league defeats have seen them plummet to fifth, with Martens's side now closer to the relegation zone than they are to PSV.
That is a remarkable statistic when it is taken into consideration that AZ took 16 points from a possible 18 to start the campaign, and the signs do not look great ahead of this trip to London either.
AZ have lost all eight previous European fixtures in England, conceding at least twice in each, while they have also lost five of their last six games on the road across all venues in European competition.
Team News
© Imago
Spurs are set to be without Wilson Odobert and Djed Spence for this one in a blow to Postecoglou's plans, as both would have been in contention to start in order to give a rest to some first-choice options.
One of those is Pedro Porro, as the Spurs right-back has played 90 minutes in six straight games, including away in Hungary on matchday two, and twice for Spain during the international break.
After sitting out the Ferencvaros win due to suspension, Radu Dragusin will return here and is likely to start so Postecoglou can hand a rest to his two starting central defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven.
Just a few months after leaving the club on a permanent deal, AZ striker Troy Parrott will return to the club where he spent seven years on the books, looking to find another goal on the continent after scoring the winner against Elfsborg.
Ibrahim Sadiq is a doubt after he returned from Ghana duty with an injury, joining the likes of Bruno Martins Indi, Mexx Merdink and Wouter Goes on the sidelines.
David Moller Wolfe's weekend red card will have no effect on his availability here, but the defender will be suspended when AZ face Go Ahead Eagles on Sunday.
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Vicario; Gray, Dragusin, Davies, Udogie; Sarr, Bentancur, Bergvall; Moore, Richarlison, Werner
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Owusu-Oduro; Maikuma, Penetra, Dekker, Wolfe; Clasie, Mijnans, Koopmeiners; Buurmeester, Parrott, Van Bommel
We say: Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 AZ Alkmaar
Spurs have looked composed and comfortable in the Europa League so far despite an early red card against Qarabag and late consolation by Ferencvaros.
AZ's woeful recent form, struggles in England and Spurs' excellent home record in this competition suggests there is only one winner from this contest.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
