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Tottenham will look to keep their feint hopes of qualifying for the Europa League alive when they go up against Irish outfit Shamrock Rovers at what should be a rocking Tallaght Stadium on Thursday.
Spurs saw their hopes of reaching the next stage of the competition all but go up in smoke when PAOK staged one of the great defensive displays to secure a win at White Hart Lane last month, a defeat for Harry Redknapp’s side that came off the back of a 1-0 loss to Rubin Kazan in Russia.
Now they must secure a convincing win over Shamrock and hope PAOK can do them a huge favour in their game against Rubin, with a six goal swing in Tottenham’s favour necessary in order for the Lillywhites to secure an unlikely progression to the next round.
While Shamrock have had an ultimately fruitless campaign that has seen them fail to register a single point in their five games so far, the prospect of a victory over high-flying Tottenham would leave them more than happy with their efforts on the continent this season.
Shamrock looked to be on for the biggest win in their history when they travelled to White Hart Lane earlier this season, with Stephen Rice’s 50th minute opener giving hope to the travelling Shamrock contingent that the unthinkable might happen, but goals from Roman Pavlyuchenko, Jermain Defoe and Giovanni Dos Santos inside six minutes put the anxious White Hart Lane audience at ease.
Since then the semi –professional Shamrock have had little to smile about in Europe with a 4-1 defeat in Russia at the hands of Rubin Kazan in their last game taking their goals conceded in the group stages to 15, while they have only mustered four goals themselves.
Spurs are unlikely to be going hell for leather in order to secure qualification with a potential Premier League title tile on the cards, so the make-up of Redknapp’s team may differ from the one that took to the field for their 2-1 defeat against Stoke on Sunday.
Luka Modric, Rafael Van Der Vaart and Gareth Bale are likely to be rested, with the likes of Danny Rose, Harry Kane and Giovanni Dos Santos ready to step into the side.
Ledley King missed the defeat against Stoke as is unlikely to feature, while Michael Dawson and Tom Huddlestone remain long-term absentees.
Match Winner
While Tottenham go into the game as favourites, the fact that progress in the Europa League would be seen as a distraction at White Hart Lane means the difference in odds between the two sides isn’t as large as you would imagine.
Spurs are 1.50 (1/2) with William Hill while Shamrock are 7.50 (13/2) with StanJames, with the draw placed at 4.00 (3/1) with SkyBet.
First Goalscorer
Roman Pavlyuchenko has featured regularly in the Europa League for Spurs and should start on Thursday, with the Russian the best placed of Tottenham strikers alongside Jermain Defoe likely to start at 5.50 (9/2) with Paddy Power.
Harry Kane is 6.50 (11/2) with Coral to bag the first goal of them game, while for Shamrock Cameron Lancaster is the main threat to open the scoring at 7.00 (6/1) BoyleSports.
Reccomended bets
First Goalscorer: Jermain Defoe, 5.50 (9/2) Paddy Power
Correct score: 2-0 Tottenham, 8.00 (7/1) William Hill
