Inside Futbol

David Balogh/Getty Images

Fixture: Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Hotspur

Competition: Premier League

Kick-off: 14:00 UK time

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has picked his starting line-up and substitutes to take the trip to Selhurst Park to face Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace in the Premier League this afternoon.

Postecoglou knows his men face opponents who are desperate to record a win and ease the pressure on Glasner, and the Australian will want no slip-ups.

History is firmly on Spurs’ side today as they have won an impressive 15 of their last 18 league meetings with Palace, losing just once.

Postecoglou is without Djed Spence, who has a groin problem, while Heung-Min Son is also absent.

Guglielmo Vicario is between the sticks for Tottenham, who go with a back four of Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van den Ven and Destiny Udogie.

Midfield sees Postecoglou pick Yves Bissouma, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison, while Brennan Johnson, Mikey Moore and Dominic Solanke lead the attacking threat.

If the Spurs boss needs to make changes then his options on the bench today include Lucas Bergvall and Richarlison.

Tottenham Hotspur Team vs Crystal Palace

Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Bissouma, Maddison, Kulusevski, Johnson, Solanke, Moore

Substitutes: Forster, Davies, Dragusin, Gray, Bentancur, Sarr, Bergvall, Werner, Richarlison

Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Former Ligue 1 star Benoit Cheyrou feels Marseille’s Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg, who is on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, is one of the best players in the French top flight this season.

Spurs offloaded multiple players in the summer transfer window, either permanently or on loans and Hojbjerg is one of the loaned out individuals.

He has joined French outfit Marseille on a season-long loan and they have an obligation to make the move permanent next summer.

Ex-Marseille midfielder Cheyrou insisted that the Spurs loanee reminds him of current Juventus boss Thiago Motta, who had a decorated playing career.

Cheyrou also feels that the Dane is one of the best players in the league this season, issuing high praise to him.

“For me, he is one of the best players in Ligue 1”, Cheyrou told French daily La Provence about the Spurs loan star.

“He makes others better.

“He reminds me of Thiago Motta, of the influence he had at Paris Saint-Germain.”

Spurs signed Hojbjerg four years ago from Southampton for £15m and they are set to pocket £17m from Marseille at the end of this season.

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Fixture: Tottenham Hotspur vs AZ Alkmaar

Competition: Europa League

Kick-off: 20:00 UK time

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has picked his starting line-up and substitutes to play host to Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this evening.

Spurs have won both their Europa League league phase games so far and another victory tonight would mean a foot in the qualification zone early on.

They take on an AZ side who arrive in poor form, having lost their last four games across all competitions, including one in the Europa League, at Athletic Bilbao.

Tottenham start as firm favourites, but AZ did win their Europa League opener, against Elfsborg, and will be eyeing a shock in north London.

Fraser Forster is in goal for Tottenham this evening, while at the back Postecoglou picks Archie Gray, Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies and Destiny Udogie as a four.

In the engine room, Tottenham go with Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall and James Maddison, while Mikey Moore and Richarlison support Timo Werner.

Postecoglou can chop and change if needed and his options tonight include Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson.

Tottenham Hotspur Team vs AZ Alkmaar

Forster, Gray, Dragusin, Davies, Udogie, Bentancur, Bergvall, Maddison, Moore, Richarlison, Werner

Substitutes: Vicario, Austin, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Sarr, Bissouma, Kulusevski, Odobert, Johnson, Solanke, Lankshear

Marc Atkins/Getty Images

Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Troy Parrott, who plays for AZ Alkmaar, has hailed his former side, marking them as ‘world-class’ and admitted that getting a result against Spurs will not be ‘easy’.

The Ireland international striker was considered a top prospect at Spurs but he failed to make a break through in the first team.

He left the north London club in the summer for a reported £6.7m fee and has already scored six goals for them.

The 22-year-old insisted that breaking into the first team as a young player has become difficult these days because he feels Spurs are a top outfit in England.

AZ Alkmaar will face Spurs tonight in the Europa League and Parrott admitted that the game will be a difficult one against a ‘world class’ Spurs side.

“Spurs are such a big club. I have had a few chances to play for them and I am proud of that”, the former Spurs forward told Dutch daily De Telegraaf in an interview.

“I was at the club for seven years. I grew up there and was able to develop as a person and as a footballer.

“They want to develop young players and deliver them to the first team. But that is incredibly difficult because the club is in the top five of the Premier League.

“It was not meant to be that I broke through there. Now my own journey has begun.

“It is definitely a special match. It is nice to go back and see some familiar faces. There are some world-class players there, so it is not going to be easy.

“But for me and my fellow players, it is an exciting and beautiful evening,”

Parrott will be looking to play an impactful role against Spurs tonight at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Jaimi Joy/Getty Images

Ferencvaros coach Pascal Jansen has insisted Tottenham Hotspur’s ‘noticeably’ high defensive line is a weakness of theirs ahead of Spurs’ Europa League match tonight.

Earlier this month, the Hungarian side faced Spurs in the Europa League and lost the game by a marginal 2-1 scoreline.

Spurs will host Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar tonight at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Jansen has given the Dutch side some critical tips.

The Ferencvaros and former AZ Alkmaar boss revealed that if the Dutch side are able to break through Tottenham’s intense pressing, they will be able to cause damage to the north London side.

Spurs play a high defensive line under Ange Postecoglou and Jansen stressed Tottenham’s high defensive line is a weakness of the Premier League side.

“It is not only the backline that is noticeably high on the pitch at Tottenham”, Jansen told Dutch magazine Voetbal International about the north Londoners.

“Up front, they apply extremely high pressure, which can cause problems in the build-up from the back.

“We also provoked their high pressure a bit.

“We managed to take advantage of the spaces that were created at times.

“If you manage to get out from under their initial pressure, you can then go in different directions, thanks to the spaces that are then exposed between the lines and behind their high defence.

“Then you can almost put the ball behind their defence from midfield with your eyes closed.

“Especially if you have speed up front.”

Now it remains to be seen if the Dutch side will be able to set themselves up to take full advantage of Tottenham’s high defensive line tonight.

Carl Recine/Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven believes that playing against AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League will be more special for people around him than for him personally.

Van de Ven hails from the northern part of the Netherlands and his father has a strong connection with the club he is set to face on Thursday.

Despite having played his football with the club as a 12-year-old, Van de Ven insists that he does not have strong connections with AZ.

The club took a look at him as a youngster but did not consider signing him and the Tottenham star fully comprehends their stance at that time given that he feels that flourished a bit late.

On his connections with the Dutch club, the defender said at a press conference: “I don’t really have a strong connection with Alkmaar. It’s just a coincidence that my dad lives there but I don’t necessarily have a strong connection with Alkmaar.

“I did play as a teenager for AZ.

“I think I must have started when I was around 12 years old, at the time I was being turned down and I moved to Volendam.

“In my younger years I think even Volendam had some doubts as well.

“When I was playing at Volendam, AZ did come and see me when I broke through.

“It was nice to have AZ and other teams come and have a look but I don’t think it’s true that AZ didn’t really see me [as being a future player] because I don’t think I had the qualities that I believe I have now at that time.

“I think I picked up steam a bit late.

“Maybe me playing against AZ tomorrow night is more special for the people around me, not so much for me personally.

“Of course, I have some friends who support AZ but for me it’s like playing against any other team.

“I do know some of the players who play for AZ from the national team as well.”

Van de Ven was on the bench for Tottenham in their last Europa League match against Ferencvaros but will hope to make it to the starting line-up against AZ Alkmaar.

David Balogh/Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has admitted that he is happy to see Spurs loanee Troy Parrott doing well for AZ Alkmaar.

The 22-year-old centre forward experienced a good loan spell with Excelsior last season in the Netherlands and decided to join Dutch outfit AZ on another loan in the summer.

Parrott has scored six goals in eleven appearances for AZ so far this season and he is set to return to north London on Thursday when his side will take on Tottenham in the Europa League.

Postecoglou pointed out that Parrott has started his season with the Dutch outfit in a good manner and admitted that he is happy to see him playing well.

The Tottenham boss feels that Parrott, who scored 17 times for Excelsior last season, seems to be suiting the Dutch game.

“It’s good to see Troy doing well”, Postecoglou said at a press conference.

“He had a good loan spell last year and he’s started his AZ career in good fashion.”

The Spurs loanee has already scored once in the Europa League this season and he will be motivated to put in an impressive performance on Thursday in front of Tottenham’s supporters.

Jaimi Joy/Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has claimed that he knows more about Dutch football than Netherlands international Micky van de Ven and recalled facing Dutch opposition with Celtic.

Spurs are set to welcome Dutch side AZ Alkmaar to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium on Thursday in a Europa League league phase fixture.

Postecoglou, during his time with Celtic, previously faced AZ during a Europa League qualifier in 2021 and managed to triumph over them with a 3-2 aggregate scoreline.

Postecoglou signed Van de Ven, who came through Dutch outfit Volendam’s academy, from Wolfsburg last season and trumpeted his own knowledge of the Dutch game.

The Tottenham boss pointed out that he faced AZ with Celtic in 2021 and believes that the Dutch outfit are good at identifying young talents.

“I think I know more about Dutch football than Micky!”, Postecoglou said at a press conference.

“We played AZ when I was at Celtic a couple of years back.

“Always a good side, always good at identifying young talent.”

Postecoglou thinks that Van de Ven had late development and revealed that Volendam were also unsure about the Spurs star’s growth.

He also pointed out that the Tottenham defender was outstanding for them last season and added that Van de Ven is growing all the time.

“With Micky it’s fair to say he developed late but very quickly. Even at Volendam there was a period when they were a bit unsure.

“For us last year he was outstanding in his first year in the Premier League.

“He’s growing all the time, maturing.

“I think the more he plays with the national team it will give him more belief.”

Tottenham have won their two games in the Europa League this season and they will be determined to continue their winning moment on Thursday.

Alex Davidson/Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur star Micky van de Ven has revealed the reason why he likes to play a fast-paced high-line style of football.

The Dutch central defender joined the north Londoners from Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg last summer and has been an important player for Ange Postecoglou.

Despite facing a fairly long term injury last year Van de Ven has made 37 all-competition appearances for Spurs.

In his nine appearances this season, Van de Ven has registered two assists and the most eye-catching one came against Manchester United last month where made an exceptional run to provide an assist to Brennan Johnson.

The Holland international has revealed his recovery pace makes him enjoy playing a high-line and he stressed he loves playing attacking football under Postecoglou.

“I really enjoy it as I have the speed to recover”, the Spurs central defender told a press conference about his lightning-fast recovery pace.

“I enjoy playing in the high line and the offensive football.”

Van de Ven will be looking to provide his side with his recovery pace this week when they face AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League and Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

Christof Koepsel/Getty Images

Oxford United assistant manager Craig Short has insisted that the U’s think very highly of Tottenham Hotspur loan star Dane Scarlett.

Scarlett is considered a top prospect at Spurs and he has been sent out on several loan spells to ensure his growth.

This season, newly promoted Oxford United got hold of him and he has already scored two league goals despite playing as an impact substitute mostly.

His first league start of the season was on Tuesday night against Derby County where he scored in a 1-1 draw and the U’s assistant coach insisted that Scarlett’s performance in training sessions has been top notch.

Short is well aware of Tottenham’s stance on Scarlett as a player and he stressed the U’s also value the Spurs man a lot.

“Yes, good for him [to get back on the scoresheet]. He is training really really well”, Short told Oxford United’s in-house media about the Tottenham loan star.

“Spurs think a lot of him and we think as well, his level in training has been very high.

“Mark [Harris] started the season off so well, did really well for us last year.

“Of course, we rolled him out every game last year, he was not scoring, but we still rolled him out because his out-of-possession work is so good.

“But now we have got rest to him, we have got to rotate the squad.

“When you have got the quality of Dane to come in, the way he trained, he deserved his chance and [it is] great that he got his goal.”

Scarlett will be looking to perform consistently to have a place in Ange Postecoglou’s squad at Tottenham next season.