e-Spurs Preview: Sheriff vs.Spurs

Preview: Tottenham Head to Moldova for Europa Match Against Sheriff Tiraspol

By Nathan Durec

Tottenham Hotspur

The Spurs (Group Stage 2W-0D-0L) have had a relatively easy time of their group so far. Wins against Anzhi and Tromsø mean that another against Sheriff should all but guarantee qualification to the Knockout rounds. In looking at the squads, it’s easy to see why Tottenham is the favourite to qualify on top based on quality.

The squad is fairly healthy, which is always a welcome change from previous seasons. Capoue is still out with an ankle injury and there are a couple issues for the defensive line with Rose and Kaboul listed as day-to-day.

One interesting note is that Adebayor has made the trip to Moldova. Will AVB give the Togolese striker a start? There are questions about his fitness given that he’s been non-existent so far this year, but this is a low risk match to test him out. Adebayor said during the pre-season that he would prove that he deserves to be the number one striker for the club. Guess he needs to chance to prove it.

Sheriff Tiraspol

Sheriff Tiraspol (Group Stag 0W-2D-0L) are in the second spot in the group, having tied both of their matches against Anzhi and Tromsø. However, domestically, they are doing great, having lost only once. In twelve matches so far, they lead the Divizia Nationala by four points. Defensively, they are only averaging 0.5 goals against, a statistic that any club would be proud of.

In their last Europa match, Sheriff defender Melli was given his walking orders and sent off, ruling him out for this match.

Head-to-Head

Tottenham and Sheriff have never played each other before. In fact, the Spurs have only played a Moldovan side once, back in 1999. It was against FC Zimbru Chisinau and ended in a 3-0 aggregate win for the Spurs.

Next Up

The boys are back in action right away this weekend with a home match against newly promoted club, Hull. This could be the return of Huddlestone, who left in the off-season for the Tigers on a €6 million transfer fee. Hull have had a fairly decent start for their EPL return, currently sitting in 9th place.

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