Vinicius to continue earning his Spurs
Tottenham Hotspur look to continue their fine form in both domestic and European competitions when they travel to Austrian outfit LASK for the match at Linzer Stadion (their own ground, The Raiffeisen Arena, is too small for UEFA level football) early on Thursday evening. Three points behind the visitors before kick off, defeat or even a draw will almost certainly condemn the hosts to a disappointingly early exit from the cup. Whilst José Mourinho is likely to ring the changes once more, the stand-ins should still have too much quality to contend with. Read our preview here:
All I LASK is you try
Manager Dominik Thalhammer, who stepped into the gig at Austria's fourth-placed club in the summer after nearly a decade overseeing the women's national team, has done a sterling job domestically thus far, with his charges sat just two points off RB Salzburg at the summit and only having conceded six in nine games in the process. Naturally, UEFA's secondary international club competition is a leap up from that, but they have won and lost two each so far. Against Spurs, they will line up in a 3-4-3 that will flex into a 5-4-1 to soak up the inevitable pressure and movement off the ball that the north London side possess. They will be without experienced centre-back Gernot Trauner for the clash; his costly dismissal in the defeat to Royal Antwerp precipitated that outcome, as it had been hitherto a closely contested encounter. Indeed, the propensity to 'earn' red cards has threatened to ruin their chances of qualification altogether, and they must remain disciplined without their defensive lynchpin. The longer it stays 0-0, the more they'll feel they can commit Johannes Eggestein and Andreas Gruber forward in support of the otherwise very isolated Husein Balić, who is far more suited tom cutting in from the left instead of staying central by himself.
Lucas Arts
Erik Lamela's continued stint on the sidelines has helped in no small way to elevate Lucas Moura to greater minutes, but also in turn allows Dele Alli to gradually 'rehabilitate' into matchday squads after being previously frozen out. Alongside Gareth Bale, the trio will seek to penetrate a very compact defensive wall of at least eight at most times. Moura has excelled in the left half-space when it hasn't been occupied by Heung-min Son. whose ever-increasing importance to Mourinho's gameplan probably affords him some much needed time on the bench. The Brazilian's cute through balls to Vinicius could just be what's required to perfectly place his compatriot for scoring chances. Do so early on, and the match could become very stretched as LASK desperately need all three points to even contemplate overhauling Royal Antwerp. Notably, the backline has become far more solid in recent games, not least of which in the commendable 0-0 against rivals Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. It remains to be seen how much sight, let alone damage, Die Schwarz-Weißen can do to that burgeoning reputation.
Concentrate on the league
Thalhammer has an onerous task to get the result he needs from this one. Lacking in quality in attack, and shorn of his best defender at the other end, he will nevertheless, based on what he's done to date, give Tottenham some pause for thought. It is however a struggle to envisage how, even with a much-changed XI, LASK can really get at Spurs. Rather than focus on a win, bet365 are offering generous odds of 4.75 for Vinicius to continue to offer an alternative to Harry Kane up top, and grab the all-important first goal of the evening.
