Fiorentina travel to White Hart Lane to play Tottenham Hotspur in the second leg of the Europa League round of 32 on Thursday night, needing to score to try and go through.
The 1-1 draw in Florence last week means the Viola have to score away to have any chances of going through, in a stadium where no Italian team has ever won, but where Fiorentina netted a goal just one year ago.
Fiorentina come into the game with their solid third spot in Serie A, only six points behind leaders Juventus, after winning a crucial game in Bergamo 3-2 against Atalanta on Sunday. The Gigliati seem to be recovering their best form, after a slow January, having won four of their last six Serie A games, collecting 14 points.
Tottenham meanwhile have just been knocked out of the FA Cup, courtesy of Crystal Palace, an unexpected blow that will test the character of Mauricio Pochettino’s young squad. Before that, though, Spurs were on a brilliant run that brought them just two points behind Premier League leaders Leicester City.
Last season’s encounter between the two sides in the Europa League saw the Italian side go through, thanks to the 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane and the 2-0 win at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, with goals by two star tthat have since left: Mario Gomez and Mohamed Salah. Spurs and Fiorentina have not met any other time.
In order to keep up the form in the league, Pochettino will probably apply his usual rotation as he did in Florence, leaving his star Harry Kane on the bench, with Heung-Min Son deployed as centre forward. Moussa Dembele could be out with a groin injury, whilst Erik Lamela has missed the last two games and is still in doubt for Thursday’s clash.
Paulo Sousa will have a different attitude, as Fiorentina need to be the ones attacking. After resting them in Serie A, top scorer Nikola Kalinic, Josip Ilicic and Borja Valero will all start. Seeing as he is banned in Serie A, ex West Ham United striker Mauro Zarate is also likely to be in the starting lineup. Sousa won’t be able to count on new signing Yohan Benalouane, but other than that everyone in the UEFA list is available.
Form guide: Tottenham (W-W-W-D-L) Fiorentina (W-L-W-L-W)
Expected Starting XIs
Tottenham: Vorm; Walker, Dier, Wimmer, Rose; Mason, Bentaleb; Eriksen, Alli, Chadli; Son.
Fiorentina: Tatarusanu; Roncaglia, Rodriguez, Astori; Bernardeschi, Borja Valero, Badelj, Alonso; Zarate, Ilicic; Kalinic.
