The Big e-Spurs Preview - Fiorentina vs. Tottenham

Tottenham will have revenge in mind when they travel to face Fiorentina on Thursday for the first leg of their last-32 Europa League tie. Spurs' European campaign came to an end in Florence last year as a 2-0 win for the hosts saw them progress 3-1 on aggregate before bowing out in the semi-finals to eventual winners Sevilla.

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The bulk of that Spurs side still remain at White Hart Lane but Mauricio Pochettino's side are a different prospect 12 months on, having beaten Manchester City on Sunday to fuel talk of a sustained Premier League title challenge.

Preview continues below.....

The Opposition

Full Name: ACF Fiorentina SpA[1][2]
Nickname(s): Viola (Purple), Gigliati (Lilies)
Founded: 29 August 1926; 89 years ago
Ground: Stadio Artemio Franchi
Capacity: 47,290
Owner: Diego Della Valle
President: Mario Cognigni
Head Coach: Paulo Sousa
League: Serie A

Current Position: 4th

Website home page

The Last 5 - Fiorentina

-Serie A - Fiorentina 2 - 1 Inter Milan
-Europa League - Fiorentina 1 - 0 Belenenses
-Serie A - Juventus 3 - 1 Fiorentina
-Coppa Italia - Fiorentina 0 - 1 Carpi
-Serie A - Fiorentina 2 - 0 Chievo

The Last 5 - Tottenham

-Premier League - Manchester City 1-2 Tottenham

-Premier League - Tottenham 1-0 Watford

-Premier League - Norwich 0-3 Tottenham

-FA Cup - Colchester 1-4 Tottenham

-Premier League - Crystal Palace 1-3 Tottenham

Teams News - Tottenham

Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris will miss this Europa League last-32 first-leg tie at Fiorentina because of a shoulder injury.

The France international, 29, was hurt towards the end of Sunday's 2-1 Premier League win at Manchester City.

The injury will also keep him out of Sunday's FA Cup fifth-round game with Crystal Palace.

"It is not a big, big issue. It is a very small injury," said Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino.

"We need to assess him during the week if he can be available for next Thursday but for sure, Thursday and Sunday he is out."

Dutch keeper Michel Vorm is set to replace Lloris, who has made 31 appearances for Spurs this season.

View of the e-Spurs Podcast Team

Jason's View

These games are far more difficult to preview without knowing the side. Will Poch go strong and include Toby, Wimmer, Dembele, Dier and Kane and then use the FA Cup game Sunday to rotate more? My gut feeling is that’s the way he’ll do it. Listeners to the podcast will have heard my views on Europa League football, certainly at this stage, and I really hope we go to Florence with the intention of winning, and picking a side to reflect that.

Fiorentina currently lay 3rd in Serie A, although they are probably not in the title race. Their 13 Home games have seen 10 Wins, 1 Draw, & 2 defeats, to Roma (1-2) & Lazio (1-3). They have also been beaten in the Europa League at home by Basel (1-2) and more surprisingly by Lech Poznan (1-2). They were also knocked out of the Italian Cup at home, by Carpi (0-1).

We all remember last year’s tie, the infamous Soldado dreadful pass to Chadli which cost us that valuable away goal, and a good chance of qualification.But last year’s tie saw us dominate possession (65%), we both had 10 shots, (them 4 on target, us 3), and we had 5 corners to their 2. So whilst we lost the game 0-2, we matched them in all the other areas, which shows we ca go without fear. More importantly, last year’s key players for them, Gomez & Salah who both scored in the 2nd leg are no longer with them, and of course, we have improved.

If we go with a heavily rotated side, I still think we’re capable of getting a draw, with an away goal 1-1. If we go strong and retain the strong spine, I fancy us to get a 2-0/2-1 away win. 2-0 would of course allow us to rest a few key players before the league game that weekend against Swansea at WHL. Fingers crossed.

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