How to watch AZ Alkmaar v Tottenham: Team news, pre-match quotes, predicted line-ups and more | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur are out in the Netherlands for their match against AZ Alkmaar at the AFAS Stadium in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16 tonight.

The two sides have met just once before and it was earlier this season. Spurs defeated AZ 1-0 back in October.

Tottenham’s season has been ravaged by injuries and they sit at 13th in the Premier League table. Despite this, their European form has not been as bad as their league form. They finished in fourth place of the initial phase of the Europa League, avoiding an additional qualifying round.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the clash…

Kick-off time

5.45pm GMT

How to watch in the UK

TNT Sports 3 or streaming on Discovery+

Injuries and doubts

AZ Alkmaar: Jayden Addai (out), Sven Mijnans (doubt), Ruben van Bommel (doubt), Mexx Meerdink (doubt)

Sven Mijnans has been important for Alkmaar this season but he has not played since coming off injured against Galatasaray in their last Europa League outing.

Tottenham Hotspur: Dejan Kulusevski (out), Radu Dragusin (out), Richarlison (out), Timo Werner (out), Micky van de Ven (doubt), Cristian Romero (doubt), Dominic Solanke (doubt)

Tottenham’s injury list looks long but it may be the shortest that it has been in a while. Van de Van, Romero and Solanke have all returned to training for Spurs and would be a significant boost in the spine of their team. They are not without casualties though and losing Kulusevski to injury is a big blow.

Predicted line-ups

AZ Alkmaar (4-2-3-1): Owusu-Oduro; Maikuma, Goes, Penetra, Wolfe; Clasie, Koopmeiners; Poku, Buurmester, Lahdo; Parrott

Tottenham Hotspur (4-3-3): Vicario; Porro, Gray, Danso, Spence; Sarr, Bentancur, Bissouma; Johnson, Tel, Son

Recent form

AZ Alkmaar only avoided elimination in the league phase of the Europa League by a point. However, after scraping into the knockout phase, they produced an impressive result. The Dutch side defeated Galatasaray 6-3 on aggregate. The Turkish giants were one of the favourites to win the entire competition and are the only side to beat Spurs in Europe this season. Alkmaar won the first leg 4-1 at home and this should serve as a warning to their English visitors.

Tottenham’s squad has been severely depleted by injuries for most of this campaign. Results have been poor but it now seems they are over the worst of it. Spurs recently recorded back to back league wins for the first time since September. They lost to Man City last time out but have had time to recover since and could be boosted by the return of key players.

What’s been said?

AZ Alkmaar striker and former Tottenham player Troy Parrott on Spurs’ mixed domestic results this season: “I’m sure it’s disappointing for everyone there. When I was there, the focus was always on making the top four and being towards the top of the table. They’re not doing as well as they want to. It seems like a difficult time for them, but I’m just trying to focus on my team and what we have to do tomorrow to try to get a result.”

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou on a European opportunity: “We’ve got ourselves in a good position, making it to the round of 16. We’ve got two tough games against AZ Alkmaar and that’s the first thing to overcome. This club hasn’t done so well in this competition in recent years, but it’s a major European competition, we’re in the last 16 and there’s an opportunity for us, so we’ll see how far we can go.”