Tottenham host Fiorentina in the last 32 of the Europa League, the first of six games in 17 days for Mauricio Pochettino’s men.
Spurs have a hectic schedule ahead, with six games, including the return leg in Florence and the Capital One Cup final against Chelsea on March 1. Fiorentina are currently sat fourth in Serie A and will be feeling confident about their chances of progressing.
However Tottenham have a good record against Italian sides, with Spurs progressing each of the three times they’ve faced Italian opposition in European competitions. Also the last time La Viola came to London resulted in a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal in the 1999\00 season.
Despite this Fiorentina have only lost twice in their last eight games against English opposition, with La Viola winning five. They’re also in top league form, winning six and losing none of their last eight league games.
Fiorentina are full of familiar faces for Premier League fans, head coach Vincenzo Montella once played on loan for Fulham, playing 10 games. On the pitch former BPL players include Micah Richards, on loan from Manchester City, Borja Valero, formerly of West Brom, former Manchester United trainee Giuseppe Rossi, Liverpool flop Alberto Aquilani and Mohamed Salah, on loan from Chelsea.
Of course Fiorentina are expected to struggle after losing star player Juan Cuadrado to Chelsea in January, but with Salah heading the other way, La Viola have a handy replacement.
Progress So Far
En route to this tie Spurs went through second in their group to Liverpool’s opponents Besiktas. The Turkish side finished with 12 points while Spurs managed 11, with Asteras Tripoli and Partizan Belgrade finishing third and fourth respectively.
La Viola went through easily, dominating a group which included French side Guingamp, PAOK Salonika and Dinamo Minsk. They managed 13 points from their six games and progressed as group winners, while Guingamp made it through in second.
Team News
Mauricio Pochettino has no injury worries ahead of their congested fixture run in, with the Spurs manager able to call on a fully fit squad. Vincenzo Montella however is missing Giuseppe Rossi and young winger Federico Bernardeschi (both knee) for the trip to White Hart Lane.
With both sides in good form, it’ll be intriguing to see who comes out on top, with La Viola looking for that all important away goal, while Spurs hope that in-form striker Harry Kane will continue to deliver in front of goal, as he nears 25 goals this season.