Tottenham v Antwerp: Europa League predictions, free betting tips & TV details

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Tottenham Hotspur v Royal Antwerp in the Europa League on Thursday.

Where to watch

BT Sport 2, 8pm Thursday

Best bet

Carlos Vinicius first scorer
1pt 7-2 Betway

Team news

Tottenham
Tanguy Ndombele missed the 2-0 win over Arsenal with a minor injury and Erik Lamela (foot) has been out for a month. Joe Rodon is not in the Europa League squad.

Antwerp
Matheus (calf) and Sander Coopman (knee) are long-term absentees.

Match preview

Powerful centre-forward Carlos Vinicius has been one of the Tottenham fringe players to impress in their Europa League campaign and he looks the most likely first scorer against Antwerp on matchday six.

Spurs have qualified for the round of 32 with a game to spare but they approach the final match knowing only a victory will be enough to overhaul Antwerp for first place.

Their performances have been inconsistent and the worst of them came on the matchday two trip to Belgium when Antwerp ran out worthy 1-0 winners.

The opening 45 minutes away to Antwerp was probably the worst Spurs have played all season and prompted a dissatisfied Jose Mourinho to make four half-time substitutions, including a switch up front with Vinicius making way for Heung-Min Son.

However, Vinicius returned to the starting line-up for the matchday four clash at home to Ludogorets Razgrad and helped himself to two goals in a 4-0 victory.

The Brazilian also contributed two assists in the 3-0 success at home to LASK on matchday one and has been a regular on Tottenham's Premier League bench, which is no mean feat given the number of high-quality attacking players in the squad.

Other star names struggling to get Premier League minutes include Gareth Bale, Lucas Moura, Dele Alli and Harry Winks, who could all come into the starting line-up.

In an ideal world Mourinho would rather win the group, but Sunday's trip to Crystal Palace will be at the forefront of his thinking and it would not be a massive surprise to see ten or 11 changes on the teamsheet.

Antwerp have a better chance against a shadow Spurs side but they may not find it easy to secure the point they need to remain in top spot.

Ivan Leko's side have been on a poor run in the league, winning just one of their last five games, and have questions to answer after Sunday's 4-2 defeat away to Racing Genk.

They may be up against a Tottenham side very similar to the one they outfought in October but the attitude of Mourinho's men could be very different.

Spurs are playing at a much better tempo in Europa League home games, scoring seven goals and conceding none, and have the incentive of playing in front of supporters for the first time in this season's competition.

The contest presents a good opportunity for Tottenham's fringe players to impress and it could be Vinicius who steals the show.

Key stat

Tottenham have won six of their last eight Europa League home matches.

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