. See the current injury list for all Premier League Teams
. All the Spurs Stats you could hope for here! THFC6061 Sports Stats
Spurs' record in Europe:-
U.E.F.A Champions League
P W D L F - A
53 22 12 19 90 - 75
(Finalists 2019)
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
159 91 39 29 324-141
(Winners 1972, 1984
Finalists 1974)
Europa Conference League
P W D L F - A
7 3 1 3 14 - 9
+ Forfeited one game due to Covid - 09/12/21)
Total
P W D L F - A
260 140 58 62 514-272
Europa League Placings
Pos P W D L F-A GD Pts
Spurs 9 6 3 2 1 11-7 4 11
Hoffenheim 26 6 1 3 2 7-10 -3 6
Europa League Placings in full
Spurs are missing 14 players!
We can take our minds away from the pains of our Premier League decline and must try to focus upon winning our last two Europa League games. Our opponents are firstly Hoffenheim, who are currently 26th and outside the top 24, who get the chance to proceed in the knock-out phase.
Our very thin squad has travelled to Germany to face a team currently in the Bundesliga bottom four, despite a win on Saturday against second-from-bottom club Holstein Kiel.
That was Hoffenheim's first win in 10 games (in all competitions). Czech international Adam Hlozek scored twice. Croatian international Andrej Kramaric scored the other goal. 33-year-old Kramaric joined Hoffenheim from Leicester in 2016. When at Leicester, Kramaric played against Spurs in "The Foxes"' 2-1 FA Cup win at The Lane in January 2015. Kramaric is Hoffenheim's top league goalscorer.
We've never played Hoffenheim before. One recent connection between the clubs was the loan of Ryan Sessegnon in the 2020/21 season. Ryan appeared in 23 Bundesliga games and scored twice. That's as many goals as he scored for Spurs in 38 league appearances between 2019 and 2024 when he returned to Fulham. Ryan did famously score his first club goal in the Champions League away to Bayern Munich in December 2019. Harry Kane was rested from that dead rubber game but Eric Dier captained the Spurs side on that day. Both now play for Bayern Munich.
Goalkeeper Oliver Baumann has been ever-present in the league for Hoffenheim. Baumann, aged 34, was capped twice for Germany last Autumn. Nigerian international defender (right-side) Kevin Akpoguma is another regular. He is German-born and has been associated with the club since May 2013. He has made 17 (out of 18) league appearances, along with Hlozek and Kramaric.
Hoffenheim are coached by 47-year-old Christian Ilzer, who arrived from Sturm Graz in November.
There is a definite correlation between our dip in form (in both Premier and Europa Leagues) and the absence of both Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven. Apart from one game (against Chelsea in December) we haven't seen Romero since 3rd November and Van de Ven one game earlier. That adds up to the last 18 of our 33 games this season.
I understand that Romero, Bentancur and Dragusin were seen in training today (Thursday), but Romero has not travelled. Pape Sarr suffered a knock in training and has also stayed at home. Our new goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky is not registered for this stage of the competition Djed Spence along with Sergio Reguilon were never registered. Along with Sarr the following players are unavailable through injury - Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Yves Bissouma, Wilson Odobert, Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke and Timo Werner. That adds up to 14 absentees!
Brandon Austin has travelled and is a possible starter. A starting line-up of Austin; Pedro Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Gray; Bergvall, Bentancur; Maddison; Kulusevski, Son and Moore seems a possibility, with loads of youngsters on the bench.
We are running on fumes, but need results from these last two games to secure a place in the top eight. Whether we can do that remains to be seen. We live in hope, but it's the hope that kills you!
Hoffenheim have managed just one win and three draws in their Europa League matches this season. They beat Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 at home and have drawn three games. Two visits to Portugal (Porto and Braga) ended in defeat. Next week they face a trip to Anderlecht, currently third in the standings.
Referee Morten Krogh and all officials except the assistant VAR are from Denmark. Mr Krogh is refereeing Spurs for the first time, but he is kept busy at home and in Europe. He refereed England's 2-0 win over Finland in September. VAR Pol van Boekel refereed two Spurs game in European matches as long ago as 2013 and 2015.
Did you know? - Eric Dier, who transferred to Bayern Munich from Spurs in January last year played his last 90 minute game of 2024 for Bayern against Hoffenheim at the end of last season in a 4-2 defeat. Hoffenheim's scorers were Beier (now with Borussia Dortmund) and a hat-trick by Andrej Kramaric. Eric has subsequently played two consecutive 90 minute games this month. One of those was against Hoffenheim, who were beaten 5-0 at The Allianz Stadium. Harry Kane scored two of those goals.
