Tottenham Hotspur is still seeking their first major trophy in official competitions, and the Europa League represents a significant chance for them to break their title drought.
However, their start to the Premier League season has been underwhelming, with only one victory in their first four matches.
That sole win was a dominant 4-0 home performance against Everton, but it was followed by back-to-back losses—2-1 at Newcastle’s St. James’ Park and 1-0 in the North London derby against Arsenal. Last week, Spurs faced Coventry in the EFL Cup and later played Brentford in the league over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Qarabag came close to making it to the Champions League group stage but fell short in the play-off final against Dinamo Zagreb. They suffered a 3-0 defeat in Croatia and lost 2-0 at home in the return leg.
Despite this setback, Qarabag has become a familiar name in European football, regularly competing in qualifiers and group stages across various tournaments. Domestically, Qarabag has maintained strong form, recently securing wins against Zira (3-1 away) and Sabail (2-1 at home) before their clash with Neftci Baku.
For Tottenham, Malian international Yves Bissouma, who has been in excellent form with two goals in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and another in the Premier League, is expected to miss out due to injury. Richarlison is also sidelined.
However, Spurs will look to key players like Son Heung-min (2 Premier League goals this season) and James Maddison (2 assists in PL) to spearhead their attack. Defensively, Udogie, van de Ven, Romero, and Porro are expected to form a strong backline.
For Qarabag, while some lineup decisions are yet to be confirmed, important players from their qualifying campaign are likely to feature.
These include Brazilian forward Juninho (6 goals), Algerian international Yassine Benzia (3 goals in the Champions League qualifiers), Cape Verdean international Andrade, Bayramov (10 league goals last season), and Frenchman Abdellah Zoubir (2 goals in the league this season), who has been with the team since joining from Lens in 2018.
Prediction
Tottenham has struggled to find consistent form at home in the Europa League, with only four wins in their last 18 attempts, and multiple defeats in their previous 10 matches. Qarabag, on the other hand, has enjoyed better fortunes on the road, winning eight of their last 14 away games at this level.
Prediction: Tottenham 1-2 Qarabag
