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Europa League: Tottenham vs Asteras Tripolis match preview

A look ahead to Thursday’s Europa League clash

Wednesday 22 October 2014 17:04 BST

Maurichio Pochettino swapped St. Mary's for White Hart Lane at the beginning of this season (PA)

Tottenham welcome Greek outfit Asteras Tripoli to White Hart Lane this Thursday, with the home side still winless in the group stage. The visitors on the other hand are sitting top of Group C after taking four points from their first two games. Mauricio Pochettino and his team know anything other than a win against the Greek qualifiers will be a severe blow to their hopes of qualifying for the knock-out stages.

Spurs will be hoping to bounce back after their disappointing 4-1 defeat to Manchester City at the weekend. The defensive frailties that were exposed on Saturday will need to be addressed quickly if Tottenham hope to progress in this competition. Fans continue to be concerned by the continuous change in personnel at the back, with Pochettino clearly still uncertain of his best option having failed to field the same back four for two consecutive games all season.

Tottenham have also been heavily criticised at the other end of the pitch this season. Spurs have only managed to register four goals since their 3-1 win at Nottingham Forest towards the end of September which has prompted more calls from the stands for the Tottenham hierarchy to invest in an underperforming frontline come January.

Asteras Tripolis will prove difficult to break down having only conceded one goal in their first two group games. The Greek side also boast an impressive home record of six games unbeaten which again emphasises the importance of this upcoming home fixture for the North Londoners.

Tottenham fans will be looking for a reaction to a mediocre start to the season.

KICK-OFF: Thursday, 8:05pm

PAST THREE MEETINGS… This will be the first time that the two clubs have met in a competitive fixture.

Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

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1/24Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Joe Hart 8/10

Might be disappointed that he was beaten by Eriksen’s effort having got a hand to his powerful effort but more than redeemed himself afterwards with a string of fine saves, most notably from Soldado’s penalty.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Gael Clichy 6

Did a reasonable job of containing Spurs down his flank and provided width down the City left as Silva cut inside.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Martin Demichelis 5

Back in the first team in place of the injured Mangala, the Argentine’s performance won’t have done his chances of remaining in the starting line-up much good as he clumsily gave away a penalty.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Vincent Kompany 6

Not as dominant a performance as we’ve come to expect from the City captain – unable to prevent Tottenham cruising through his side’s defence at times.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Bacary Sagna 6

Given a rare Premier League start, the former Arsenal man gave a typically solid performance and helped Navas to threaten down the City right.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Fernando 5

His cumbersome play led to Tottenham’s equaliser and afforded the likes of Eriksen and Chadli far too much space behind the City midfield.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Frank Lampard 7

A lively 25 minutes for the former Chelsea man before he was stretchered off with what looked like a thigh strain. He assisted Aguero’s first and won the penalty for his second.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

James Milner 7

Adds a much-needed rugged edge to the City midfield. Helped to spring many a counter attack and almost added a fifth for City when he struck the post late on.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Jesus Navas 7

Provides City with something different as he fearlessly runs at the full backs – a menace to the Spurs defence throughout.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

David Silva 7

Quietly orchestrated many of City’s attacks with his incisive passing – a typically classy performance.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Sergio Aguero 9

Four goals for the man who is still the Premier League’s best striker, if not player - the only thing that prevents the Argentine from getting full marks was his first half penalty miss.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Best of the bench: Fernandinho 6

Replaced the injured Lampard midway through the first half – not his most influential display but quietly helped City to establish themselves in the second half.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Hugo Lloris 8

Made a countless number of saves as his defence left him exposed throughout – without the Frenchman things could have got very embarrassing for Spurs.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Danny Rose 6

Struggled to contain the direct running of Jesus Navas but fought gamely and provided some positive moments going forward.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Younes Kaboul 4

A terrible showing from the Spurs skipper. Looked all at sea throughout, particularly when inexplicably lunging at David Silva to give away a penalty.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Federico Fazio 5

A tough introduction to Premier League football for the summer signing. Managed to look less calamitous than Kaboul for an hour before being harshly sent off for a tug on Aguero.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Eric Dier 5

Struggled to cope with City’s attackers – not helped by the struggling Kaboul inside of him.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Etienne Capoue 5

Failed to provide much protection for the Spurs defence, picked up a booking and was replaced on the hour mark by Dembele.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Ryan Mason 7

An extremely positive showing from the youngster. Should have scored early on but put that behind him to win the ball for Spurs’ equaliser. Replaced by Vertonghen after the Fazio sending off.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Nacer Chadli 5

Tottenham’s most consistent attacking performer of the season so far failed to build on a bright opening.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Christian Eriksen 8

Criticised by his international manager during the week, the Dane bounced back with a very strong performance. A constant threat to the City defence, he was comfortably the visitor’s most threatening player and capped his showing with a goal.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Erik Lamela 5

Another highly uninspiring performance from the big-money Argentinian. Linked up well with Eriksen early on but faded and was unsurprisingly replaced by Townsend after an hour.

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Manchester City 4 Tottenham 1: Player ratings

Roberto Soldado 5

Linking the play well early on and encouraging Spurs’ midfielders to run beyond him – you couldn’t be overly critical of Soldado… until he wasted his big chance with an extremely tame penalty.

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Best of the bench: Andros Townsend 6

Posed a far greater threat than Lamela after replacing him on the hour mark but failed to hit the target with a few long range efforts.

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STATS…

Asteras Tripoli have yet to win in 7 European away fixtures.

Asteras Tripoli have picked up just 3 bookings in the group phase compared to Tottenham’s 6.

Tottenham have scored in their last 13 consecutive European games at White Hart Lane (including qualifiers).

Tottenham have only had 10 attempts at goal in this year’s tournament compared to Asteras who have registered 28.

ODDS…

Tottenham to win: 1.35

Asteras to win: 12

Draw: 5.5

TV: Live on ITV4 and ITV4 HD at 8:05pm.

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