English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur will be hoping to advance in this season’s Europa League when they host Belgian club Gent at Wembley Stadium in London this Thursday, February 23rd. Gent leads the round-of-32 showdown after winning their home leg 1-0 last week at Ghelamco Arena. Tottenham enters the game after downing Fulham 3-0 in a London derby in the fifth round of the English FA Cup on Sunday. English international striker led the way with a hat trick. Meanwhile, Gent was held to a 1-1 away draw by Standard Liege on the weekend.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Gent – bet365 Soccer Betting Line:
- bet365 currently lists Tottenham as the favorites to win the game at 2/7 with Gent 10/1 and a draw at 17/4
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Tottenham Hotspur vs Gent – Head to Head:
- This is just the second meeting between the two teams in a competitive match with Gent’s 1-0 home win last week being their first encounter. Gent has met only one other English opponent in the past. They were edged 2-1 on aggregate by West Ham United in the first rounds of the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1964/65. Gent dropped a 1-0 home decision and managed a 1-1 draw in London. Tottenham has three victories and a draw at home against Belgian teams.
Tottenham Hotspur – A Closer Look:
Tottenham recently saw their 10-game Premier League unbeaten streak come to a halt with a 2-0 defeat at Liverpool. That loss sent them to third place in the standings with 50 points from 14 wins, eight draws and three losses. Spurs have scored 46 league goals this campaign and has conceded a shared league-low of just 18 with Chelsea. They trail league-leading Chelsea by 10 points and are two behind second-place Manchester City.
Tottenham is also level on points with fourth-place Arsenal, is one up on fifth-place Liverpool and two points in front of sixth-place Manchester United. Spurs has 14 wins in their past 27 games in all competitions along with six draws and seven losses and have won 12 of their past 17 contests in all competitions. Tottenham has 10 wins at from in league action this season with two draws and no losses with 26 goals for and five against.
On the injury front, defender Jan Vertonghen should play while defender Danny Rose is doubtful along with forward Erik Lamela. This is the sixth consecutive year Tottenham has competed in the Europa League, which is an English record. The club managed to win the old UEFA Cup competition on two occasions. Spurs have has just two wins in their past nine European games along with six losses and a draw. This includes three defeats in this season’s European Champions League. Tottenham was knocked out of the group-of-16 stage in last season’s Europa League by German side Borussia Dortmund.
Gent – A Closer Look:
Gent still remains in eighth spot in the 16-team Belgian First Division after their draw on the weekend, but have lost just once in their past six league outings. They have 41 points from a possible 81 after 27 matches with 11 wins, eight draws and eight losses with 36 goals for and 26 against. They’re 14 points behind league-leading Brugge. Gent placed second in their Europa League group stage as runners up to Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine with eight points out of a possible 18 in six matches.
Gent posted a pair of wins, draws and losses in their six outings with 13 goals against for the most goals conceded of the 32 remaining teams. On the bright side, Danijel Milicevic led the group stage in goalscoring chances created with 23 to his name. Gent has now played 11 European games this campaign with six wins, three draws and two losses. They have two victories, two draws and a loss away from home.
Both of Gent’s European defeats this season came at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk in the Europa League group stage. The Belgian club made it to the Champions League round-of-16 stage last season where they were knocked out by Wolfsburg of the German Bundesliga. Gent’s best European performance was back in 1991/92 when they made it to the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League semifinals and were eliminated by Ajax of Holland.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Gent – Takeaway:
Spurs will be eliminated with a loss or draw. They will send the series to extra time if they win 1-0. Any other one-goal win by Spurs will see Gent advance due to the away-goals rule. However, Tottenham will advance with any win by two goals or more.
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