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Spurs Odyssey Europa League Preview - Anderlecht v Spurs, 22.10.15

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Spurs' record in Europe:-
The official crest of Tottenham Hotspur
 
U.E.F.A Champions League
 
 P   W   D   L   F - A
12   5   3   4  25 - 19
 
European Cup
P   W   D   L   F - A
8   4   1   3  21 - 13
 
(Semi-Finalists 1962)
 
European Cup Winners Cup
 
P   W   D   L   F - A
33  20  5   8  65 - 34
 
(Winners 1963)
 
UEFA Cup/Europa League
 P    W   D   L   F - A
130  74  34  22  261-108 
 
(Winners 1972, 1984
 Finalists 1974)
 
Total
P    W   D   L   F - A
183 103 45  37  366-174
The official crest of Anderlecht Football Club

               EUROPA LEAGUE GROUP J

		P  W  D  L  F-A  GD  Pts

1. Spurs 	2  1  1  0  4-2   2   4
2. Qarabag      2  1  0  1  2-3  -1   3
3. Monaco       2  0  2  0  2-2   0   2
4. Anderlecht   2  0  1  1  1-2  -1   1

History re-kindled

The day after the anniversary of Trafalgar Day and "Back to the Future Day", Spurs re-kindle a piece of their own history with another visit to the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium against the team they conquered in 1984 UEFA Cup Final - Anderlecht.

We last played Anderlecht on 6th December 2007 in a UEFA Cup group match, when we drew 1-1. Bart Goor, who only scored two goals for his team in the whole of the 2007-08 season, put the home side into the lead in the 68th minute. The goal followed a comedy of Spurs defensive errors as Dawson, Jenas and Zokora seemed to say"after you" allowing the ball to reach Goor. The ball seemed to rebound off the player into the net, rather than as a result of a deliberate act. Almost immediately, Jenas was pulled down in the Anderlecht area, and Dimitar Berbatov made no mistake from the spot.

Spurs qualified for the knock-out phase in second place in their group of five, and Anderlecht also went through, despite finishing third with just 5 points. Getafe, who had beaten Spurs at White Hart Lane on the night Martin Jol was sacked, finished top of our group. Both Spurs and Anderlecht made it to round Four, but were knocked out by PSV and Bayern Munich respectively. Getafe made it to the quarter finals and were only beaten by Bayern Munich on away goals. Bayern were well beaten in the semi-final by the eventual tournament winners, Zenit St. Petersburg.

It is wholly appropriate that two members of that UEFA Cup winning side, Graham Roberts and Paul "Maxie" Miller were recently inducted into the Spurs Hall of Fame. The match famously culminated in Captain Courageous Graham Roberts' equaliser and Tony Parks' fifteen minutes of fame during which he made the all-important penalty save that led to Roberts lifting the trophy in front of a roaring White Hart Lane. That was also Keith Burkinshaw's swan-song and parting gift to Tottenham Hotspur.

It is a matter of record that Frank Arnesen played against us in that final, and that substitute Arnor Gudjohnsen was the unfortunate soul to have the crucial penalty saved by Parks. Gudjohnsen is the father of Eidur Gudjohnsen, who replaced his Dad in an International match for Iceland in 1996. Eidur Gudjohnsen played briefly for us on loan at the end of the 2009-10 season, and at the age of 37 is still playing professional football, albeit in China. he spent last season back at one of his former clubs - Bolton.

We have not actually played Anderlecht at White Hart Lane since that famous night of May 25th, 1984, so it will be a really big and hopefully passionate night in two weeks' time.

Since we last met Anderlecht, they have won their league 4 times, but not since 2013-14. Last season, they finished third, and qualified directly for the Group phase of The Europa League. Their results in their first two games have not been great, drawing at home to Monaco and losing 1-0 away to Qarabag. The Belgians sit third currently in the Belgian League with 22 points from 11 games, only one point behind the leaders.

Arguably, Anderlecht's form has not been great in their last seven matches in all competitions, as they have drawn four and lost one of those games. On Sunday though, they had a big 4-0 away win against Zulte-Waregem, when Italian striker Stefano Okaka Chuka scored two of the goals. Okaka Chuka is in great form, and has scored 6 goals in his last 8 games for his new club. The Italian was signed from Sampdoria in the summer, probably to replace Aleksandar Mitrovic, who went to Newcastle. Okaka Chuka made a substitute appearance against us when on loan to Fulham in an FA Cup quarter-final replay on March 2010. (Spurs 3 Fulham 1 - 24.03.10)

Norman Giller's piece this week mentioned Anderlecht's 18 year old "wonder kid" Youri Tielemans, described as one of the most gifted young footballers. However, Tielemans seems to be played sparingly by his coach - Albanian Besnik Hasli. Hasli was a former player for Anderlecht, but had moved on when we last met Anderlecht.

Okaka Chuka and Tielemans head Anderlecht's league scoring chart, along with Guinean Idrissa Sylla, who scored in the first three games, but has not scored since.

Both Christian Eriksen and Clinton N'Jie have been quoted on the official site as saying they are "eyeing an away win" which suggests they will both be involved. No doubt our three fit Belgians (Alderweireld, Vertonghen and Dembele) would love to play, but of course, Mauricio has to keep half an eye on Sunday's match at Bournemouth. dli is out for 6 weeks with an ankle ligament injury. None of our Belgian players have played for Anderlecht.

This is only a short hop journey for Spurs though, so there is no reason we should not field a strong team. Eric Dier will be available, of course. Spurs could line up with Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Dier, Alli; Dembele, Eriksen, N'Jie; Kane.

Can Spurs get an away win? Anderlecht are unbeaten at home and their passionate support might be a factor in the game. As always, a draw would be a decent result, and with our goal-scoring record this season (Qarabag and Man City excluded) we might struggle to get more than one goal. I'll go with another away draw in Europe.

Tomorrow's match referee is Mr. Pol van Boekel. He and his team of officials are from The Netherlands. Mr. van Boekel was in charge of our 5-0 away win over Dinamo Tbilisi two years ago.

· On another note related to history it was a year ago today (22nd October, 2014) that Tottenham Hotspur announced the passing of club historian Andy Porter. Andy is so badly missed by his family first and foremost, but also by so many friends and professionals in the world of football.

I shall be on the Eurostar to Brussels, and the web site will not be updated before Friday evening.

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