If you’re a Tottenham supporter seeking reasons to be optimistic about your side’s chances of overturning an aggregate deficit on Thursday night, and hence moving on to the UEL round of 8, look no further than the history of their opponent, AZ Alkmaar.
The Dutch club has lost all nine of their all-time away games in England. No other club, in the modern era of UEFA competition with a 100% defeat rate in England, has lost more games.
AZ Alkmaar vs Tottenham Hotspur FYIs
Kick: Thurs. March 6, 5:45pm, AFAS Stadion, Alkmaar, Netherlands
Competition: UEFA Europa League Round of 16 Leg 2/2
Aggregate: AZ leads 1-0
Fun fact: Spurs have won four of their last five at home versus Dutch teams.
So there you go, AZ Alkmaar have an extensive track record of failing in situations like this. That has to make the North Londoners feel good.
Spurs Team News vs AZ Alkmaar
Ben Davies could be in the mix here while Richarlison may make the squad on the weekend. Radu Dragusin is out for the season while Dejan Kulusevski could be back after the internationals. So there isn’t really much to report here, and we may as well move on to the lineup projection
Here is what we think the strongest potential first team could look like at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham Starting XI Prediction vs AZ Alkmaar
Guglielmo Vicario; Pedro Porro, Kevin Danso, Ben Davies, Djed Spence; James Maddison, Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr; Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson, Heung-Min Son
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.