Tottenham are set to take on Turkish side Galatasaray in the UEFA Europa League. Ange Postecoglou’s side will look to build on the strong performance against Aston Villa last weekend in the Premier League as they look to continue their perfect start to their continental bid.
There are a lot of tangibles that Ange Postecoglou will have to contend with coming into the game. The Aussie tactician has some major decisions to make in terms of rotations and dealing with injuries and it could be the key to how his team performs on the night.
Galatasaray come into this game in good form and with genuine superstars in their ranks like Mauro Icardi and Victor Osimhen. It will not be easy beating them at their home stadium and Tottenham will have to be at their absolute best to ensure they come out of the game with three points.
With all this in mind, we take a look at three talking points for Tottenham ahead of facing Galatasaray away from home in the UEFA Europa League.
1. The perfect start
Tottenham’s form in the Premier League might be on and off but they have had a perfect start to their Europa League campaign. With three wins from three games, they sit just behind Lazio in the group stage table, only behind the Italians on goal difference.
Tomorrow, in Turkey, Ange’s men face their toughest challenge in the competition yet. The Aussie tactician will have it in the back of his mind that his team has to continue their perfect start in their continental bid.
In this new format of the Europa League, every game and every win is important to ensure that the side finishes in the top-eight. This would help the team qualify directly without having to go through the dreaded play-offs.
However, there is no use in getting ahead of time. It is important to take one game at a time as it comes and beating Galatasaray tomorrow would make it 4/4 for Ange’s men in the competition. Let’s wait and see how it goes.
2. A hostile atmosphere awaits Ange & co.
Turkey are never a pleasant place to be in as a visiting team in football. The ultras and the home crowd try to make the stadium as uncomfortable as possible for the visitors and that is exactly what Tottenham must be expecting for the game tomorrow.
It could get quite overwhelming for any team to play in these Turkish stadiums and it would be no different for Ange & co. They will have to show tremendous mental resolve to ensure that they don’t let the occasion get to them.
The thing with Ange’s Tottenham is that most of the players have not experienced playing in big European nights before. This could turn out to be a double edged sword for Spurs when they take on Galatasaray.
On one hand, his squad is unlikely to fear the atmosphere as they would not know what to expect. On the other hand, they could get buckled down in the stadium and it is on Ange Postecoglou to ensure that his team handles the situation well.
3. Do you get deja vu???
Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou find themselves in a similar situation to a time last season when their entire campaign derailed and was never the same again. It happened after injuries to Micky van de Ven and James Maddison and a suspension/injury issue to Cristian Romero.
James Maddison is available but Ange is most likely to be without Van de Ven and Romero for the trip to Galatasaray. Last season, in such scenarios, the Aussie tactician was forced to use Emerson Royal and Ben Davies as a centre-back pairing.
Currently, Royal is not at the club, having moved to AC Milan back in the summer. Spurs are in a better situation than last season, as they have brought in a natural centre-back like Radu Dragusin, who is expected to start alongside Ben Davies at the centre of defence.
Regardless, this situation should give Ange and all the Tottenham fans a serious sense of deja vu. They will hope that the squad is better equipped to handle the situation better than they did last season and let’s wait and see how it plays out.
