42 mins: No Slovenian team has ever beaten an English club. Is this the night that one of football's most treasure records falls? Huddlestone will be thinking that he might have put in a better tackle for that goal.
39 mins: Here's Lennon down the left. The ball finds its way to Defoe and Sigurdsson, both of whom try and fail to wriggle through a massed defence.
37 mins: Left-back Mejac is allowed to run at the Spurs defence. He cuts inside and lets fly with a good shot that flies not far wide. Lennon swaps over to the left.
35 mins: Spurs starting to look okay. Huddlestone chips the ball forward where Sandro has made a nice run, he heads it down to Defoe. But the England man cannot get on top of it and spoons it over.
33 mins: Good stuff from Sandro. Wins it in midfield, holds off a challenge and lashes a hard shot just wide of the post. Probably the most entertaining thing that has happened so far, other than some impressive play-acting.
31 mins: Oop, an attempt on target. Freekick in from deep by Huddlestone, and Sigurdsson gets up for a weak header that the goalie gathers with ease.
30 mins: Neither keeper has had a save to make as yet. Quiet stuff.
28 mins: Lennon nicks it off Mezga jinks through and tries to cut it back but it needed to be through-the-eye-of-a-needle stuff and a defender intercepts. Mezga makes out like he has been hit by a bus. Dude. It's Aaron Lennon. Man up.
26 mins: Walker whips a nice ball across goal, he and Lennon starting to enjoy themselves out there on the right.
25 mins: Bit of space for Lennon, he lays it back for Walker who tries an effort that is neither cross nor shot, and not much use of either.
24 mins: Defoe takes it at his feet and spins, going down under the challenge from Rajcevic. That looked like a foul to me.
22 mins: Tons of time and space for Walker down the right but he cannot pick out a man.
21 mins: Lennon not able to influence the game as yet. Long ball forward from Maribor, but Naughton easily outpaces Beric.
20 mins: Sigurdsson with a late tackle.
19 mins: Huddlestone launches a long free kick into the mixer but no Spurs player can get in on the action.
16 mins: Good spell from Maribor but their move breaks down and Townsend breaks. In going past Milec, the Maribor player goes down like the proverbial, but the ref isn't having it. Townsend overhits his cross by a long way, though, so none of it really matters.
14 mins: Peter Drury has got to that lull in the commentary bit where he tells us that Maribor is a European Centre of Culture city. I put my fingers in my ears before we hear about their major exports being petroleum, steel and jam or anything about the local traditional dress. Point being, this has been a quiet couple of minutes.
12 mins: Good spell of possession from Maribor, they look technically quite good but rather underpowered.
11 mins: Spurs doing okay, they really ought to beat this lot on the evidence of the first ten minutes, but haven't quite got their passing together yet. Lennon fails to find Defoe.
8 mins: Maribor's Brazilian centre back Arghus has already been sent off three times this term. Effort.
6 mins: Spurs give Goran Cvijanovi? far too much time on the ball and he slips it forward to Beric, who has the ball in the net. Offside. Clearly so, but a bit of a warning to Spurs nonetheless.
5 mins: Townsend frees Defoe but the England striker loses his footing.
3 mins: Maribor have a chance to break via Ibraimi down the right but he runs into trouble, looks for the freekick but nothing doing.
2 mins: Poor header from Maribor right back Mzega, he's nodded that right into the path of Sigurdson on the edge of the box, and the midfielder should have done better with his shot.
1 mins: Chance for an early run down the left from Naughton. Townsend also down that left and Sigurdson playing behind Defoe for Spurs.
17.50 The home side will kick off.
17.55 So no room for Adebayor. Ha, Gordon Strachan. "How long ago did Bale's wife have a baby? Four nights? SHE could play tonight, never mind him." Leaving the 1970s behind, he does have some useful intelligence about Maribor: 4-4-1-1 solid but lacking in pace.
17.50 Plenty of reasons to be optimistic for Spurs. They have kept clean sheets in their last three away European games, for instance. Here's AVB: "We have to be brave and show our collective and individual ability. If you mix that with the right mindframe, you should have no problems."
17.45 Here are the teams...
Maribor: Handanovic, Milec, Rajcevic, Arghus, Mejac, Mertelj, Cvijanovic, Mezga, Tavares, Ibraimi, Beric. Subs: Pridigar, Filipovic, Komazec, Ploj, Viler, Dodlek, Lesjak.
Tottenham: Lloris, Walker, Caulker, Vertonghen, Naughton, Sandro, Huddlestone, Lennon, Sigurdsson, Townsend, Defoe. Subs: Cudicini, Dempsey, Gallas,Falque, Livermore, Smith, Parrett.
Referee: Sergei Karasev (Russia)
17.40 Michael Dawson misses Tottenham's Europa League clash with NK Maribor this evening due to a migraine. The 28-year-old had been expected to start for Spurs, who have made three changes to the side that started Saturday's 4-2 defeat to Chelsea. Hugo Lloris replaces Brad Friedel in goal for the Group J fixture, while Kyle Naughton and Andros Townsend come in for William Gallas and Clint Dempsey. Aaron Lennon captains Spurs.
17.30 Evening all, and welcome to our live blog coverage of the Europa League. First, we will see if Tottingham can come back from Slovenia with three points to add to the two draws they have managed so far; and then we'll have a quick change of shirt, a rubdown and a protein shake (well, McDonalds, or something) and hotfoot it over to Anfield where Liverpool take on moneybags Dagestan outfit Anzhi Makhachkala. Here be our match preview on the Spurs game, and I will bring you the te
Maribor v Tottenham Hotspur
St James's Park
Kick-off: 6.00pm
TV: ITV4
Andre Villas-Boas has insisted he will not be selling Emmanuel Adebayor even though the striker has yet to start a game for Tottenham since making last season's loan deal from Manchester City permanent in the summer.
Adebayor is set to miss out again tonight when Tottenham host Slovenian side NK Maribor, with Jermain Defoe again preferred as the lone striker.
"Obviously each individual has their own position," said Villas-Boas. "Certainly Ade is a player who wants to come into the team, but Jermain Defoe's form and the structure that we are using now, plus the injury setback he suffered after the Reading game, have not allowed him the playing time that he deserved."
Moussa Dembélé remains sidelined with a hip complaint and goalkeeper Brad Friedel has stayed at home, meaning Hugo Lloris will start the game. Gareth Bale has also stayed in the UK after his girlfriend gave birth to their first child at the weekend, which saw him miss the 4?2 home defeat to Chelsea.
Maribor will be without Nejc Potokar and Rajko Rep through injury, while Jovan Vidovic is ineligible.
Possible teams
Tottenham: Lloris; Walker, Gallas, Caulker, Vertonghen; Huddlestone, Sandro; Lennon, Sigurdsson, Dempsey; Defoe.
NK Maribor: Handanovic; Mejac, Viler, Rajcevic, Trajkovski; Filipovic, Ibraimi, Cvijanovic, Mertelj; Velikonja, Tavares.
No comments:
Post a Comment