UEFA Europa League, round of 32

Tottenham vs Gent: Match preview, Team news & Prediction

Gent travel to London looking to make a miracle and defend their 1-0 lead from the first leg.

By admin

Tottenham host Gent at Wembley on Thursday night aiming to avoid an early exit from the Europa League.

The Spurs dropped into the Europa League’s knockout phase after a disappointing Champions League campaign, but first leg game against Gent can be called anything, but successful as Gent beat them 1-0 thanks to Jeremy Perbet’s goal 15 minutes in the second half.

It was Tottenham’s second defeat in a row as Liverpool beat Pochetino’s troops 2-0, but the Spurs bounced back in the FA Cup against Fulham with Harry Kane’s hat-trick. The 23-years-old is Tottenham’s key man and if he repeats his Fulham performance than Pochettino and the fans will have nothing to worry about.

On the other side, KAA Gent are currently eighth placed team in the Belgium championship with huge fourteen points behind current leaders, Club Brugge.

Their away record in even worse as they’ve recorded only one away victory and only three teams in the First Division A are worse then Gent. Last season’s third-placed team in Belgium are objectively much weaker team in this duel and they’ve made a huge surprise just by beating Tottenham at home, but if they manage to knock them out of the Europa League it would be a truly sensational for the Belgium side.

Match Facts

  • Spurs have now won just one of their last four European games against Belgian sides, losing away in Belgium to Anderlecht (October 2015) and Gent in the first leg.
  • Tottenham have lost five of their last six matches played at Wembley, but did beat CSKA Moscow there in December.
  • Gent’s only previous match on English soil came against West Ham in a 1-1 draw in the first round of the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1964/65 (lost 1-2 on aggregate).
  • If Spurs were to progress, they would have reached the last 16 of the Europa League in four of the last five campaigns.
  • Danijel Milicevic has created more chances than any other player in the Europa League this season (26).

Team News 

Kyle Walker and Jan Vertonghen are set to return in the lineup, while Danny Rose and Erik Lamela are still sidelined.

Team News 

Hein van Haezebrouck will have a fully fit squad at his disposal.

Predicted Lineups

Tottenham: Lloris; Walker, Alderveireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Wanyama, Dembele; Eriksen, Alli, Son; Kane.

Gent: Kalinic; Mitrovic, Asare, Dajaegere, Gigot; Foket, Saief; Simon, Esiti, Milicevic; Perbet.

Date: 23 February 2017
Time: 21:05 CET
Venue: Wembley, London, England
Referee: Manuel Jorge Neves Moreira De Sousa