This is the third time these two teams have met in a competitive fixture.
There won’t be many supporters inside Ibrox this evening able to cast their mind back to the other two meetings, though.
They were both played in the second round of the 1962-63 Cup Winners’ Cup — Tottenham won 5-2 at home and 3-2 on the road.
Those two victories came in a successful campaign for Spurs, as they went on to lift the trophy in Rotterdam that year.
How is everyone feeling ahead of kick-off then? Well I’d say there’s a good bit of positivity here from a couple of Tottenham supporters on our Discuss tab above, which is open to all subscribers.
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💬 Jake A: “Sweet baby Johnson to the rescue! Ange is gonna come back with some Celtic luck. Scottish destruction. COYS!”
💬 Tate R: “Already got a mate saying Rangers finish Ange off tonight! I reckon he’ll be sacked by Feb OR here until Xmas 2025, no in-between. Levy isn’t going to spend 400m to make the squad deep enough to nearly sustain Ange ball so I can see why people are asking why we’re continuing with him. He should be backed and see where we are in summer 2026 but I’d hate no tangible improvement over that period.”
The gap in quality between Scottish and English sides in the last couple of decades is perhaps best illustrated by Rangers’ record against teams south of the border.
They are winless in their last six matches against Premier League teams, with their last victory in such a fixture against Leeds United in Champions League qualifying all the way back in 1992.
They’ll certainly be sensing an opportunity to end that run today, though.
Rangers manager Philippe Clement is aware of the gulf in quality between these two squads, but is confident his side can bridge the gap on the way to a famous win.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Clement said:
💬 “Everything can be bridged in one night. I had the luck — and it’s not only luck, it’s also a lot of hard work — as a player and as a manager to have several nights where the gap was amazingly big.
“If you then perform and you get the results, those are also the nights you remember all of your life. The moments as a player you remember your team-mates really well. The moments of success, of doing something special.
“So in that way, I hope the players can give themselves and as a team, a special night.”
Hello and welcome again to our live coverage of matchday six from this season’s Europa League — and what a game we have in prospect at Ibrox.
It’s Rangers against Tottenham, Scotland vs England, former Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou against Celtic’s nemesis. There’s so much to anticipate ahead of kick-off.
There is loads for you to catch-up on below and we will have plenty more for you from here until kick-off, with our reporters at the game and contributors watching on.
So don’t go anywhere. We’ve got you covered from here.
Asked if the hostile reception he will receive will fire him up tonight, Postecoglou gave a great answer.
"I don't know if it brings out more of me. I mean, I'm like anyone else, I like a bit of love every now and then, mate," he said. "But I do enjoy that. I always kind of reflect and, you know, we've all lived it is that once you experience football in empty stadiums, you realise how meaningless it is.
"I felt through that whole period, that Covid period, it was meaningless. So I would win games, as much as you go it could be hostile tomorrow, but yeah that's what we love about the game. That's what brings it to life.
"Ultimately, it is a game evokes passions and emotions. Sometimes that's not always positive. Like every human being you'd love it to be positive, but it's not gonna happen. You definitely want that as opposed to playing a game in somewhere sterile where you don't have that."
Unsurprisingly, Postecoglou faced a few questions about his relationship with Glasgow coming into today's game.
"I'm looking forward to it. I had a great time up there in the two years I was there [at Celtic]," the Tottenham boss told Sky Sports. "Fair to say, Ibrox can be fairly intense and I'm sure we'll feel that.
"But it's a great stadium to play football in. The atmosphere, European nights. Even when I was there, they did awfully well in Europe - the first year I was there they got to the Europa League final.
"So you know how European nights, irrespective of their league form, they really rise for, so it's a good challenge for us."
Ange Postecoglou will not be well received at all by the home supporters inside Ibrox this evening.
The Australian spent the 2021-22 and 22-23 seasons as manager of Celtic, arch rivals of Rangers.
Postecoglou was very successful too as he earned the Spurs job after winning the Scottish Premiership in both of those seasons, as well as the domestic treble in the second of the two campaigns.
The Rangers fans have been taking great pleasure in watching him struggle at Tottenham in recent weeks...
The 4-3 loss against Chelsea, as galling as it was, was compounded by more injuries. Centre-backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, after returning from injury, were both subbed off.
Brennan Johnson came off early in the second half because he “didn’t feel well”, according to Postecoglou. Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is also out for months with a fractured ankle.
Their squad looks thin, and the Rangers match this evening kicks off a run of six games in 18 days across three competitions. So, as The Athletic's Jay Harris outlines below, things will likely get worse before they get better.
Talk about a thriller. Seven goals, two penalties, two potential red-card challenges, a brilliant atmosphere, and all the animosity of a London derby with plenty of history.
Tottenham were beaten 4-3 at home against rivals Chelsea on Sunday, but that scoreline doesn't tell the full story. The hosts raced into a two-goal lead inside 11 minutes after Marc Cucurella slipped twice and gave the ball to Tottenham, who profited ruthlessly.
Jadon Sancho smashed a brilliant long-range shot in off the post, before two silly errors from the home side saw Cole Palmer convert two penalties, the second a cheeky Panenka, either side of an Enzo Fernandez finish.
Home captain Son Heung-min reduced the deficit in the 96th minute after a smart short-corner routine but the hosts could not complete a dramatic comeback, the result helping Chelsea into second and leaving Tottenham in 11th.
After the 1-0 defeat against Bournemouth, Ange Postecoglou described gifting Dean Huijsen a free header from Marcus Tavernier’s inswinging corner as “madness”.
“It is disappointing and not good enough,” he said. “It is not a one-off. We have done that three or four times and paid a price for it.”
What is concerning is that Tottenham keep repeating the same mistakes. As The Athletic argues below, constantly losing in the same manner suggests that something is fundamentally not working.
After Tottenham's last match on the road, a 1-0 loss at Bournemouth, Ange Postecoglou was embroiled in a terse exchange with fans in the away end following the final whistle.
Discussing the incident, he said: “They are disappointed, rightly so. They gave me some direct feedback, which I guess is taken on board. I have no issue with it. I didn’t like what was being said because I’m a human being but you have to cop it.
“I have been around long enough to know that when things don’t go well, you have to understand the frustration and disappointment. They are rightly disappointed tonight because we let a game of football get away from us but that’s okay. I’m okay with all that.”
Wonder what kind of things will be said by the travelling fans if Tottenham lose again tonight...