Hoffenheim has a huge motivation to make a big step toward qualification for the knockout stage of the Europa League tonight at 8:45PM in front of their home fans. Currently in 27th place with seven points, a win against the struggling English team would be very beneficial to them. On the other side, Ange Postecoglou’s team is in ninth place, and a victory would catapult Tottenham into the top eight, providing great motivation for them in this match.MATCHDAY 👊🆚 Hoffenheim🏟️ Rhein-Neckar-Arena🏆 @EuropaLeague⏰ 5.45pm GMT pic.twitter.com/bH4sc0XDnm— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 23, 2025 However, two recent away defeats, to Arsenal and Everton, call for caution, as the atmosphere in the team is far from ideal. Postecoglou has traveled to Germany with a squad missing 14 players. Jed Spence, Sergio Reguilon, Antonin Kinsky, and young Yang Min-Hyeok are all unavailable. The first two were not registered for the Europa League at the start of the season, and the other two arrived this month and cannot be registered until the end of the league phase.”Some might look at us and think we’re a unique case. Certainly, very extreme. We’ve been hit the hardest, and I don’t think it’ll stop here. There are serious signs in other teams as well. Look at European teams. Last year, Newcastle really struggled, Aston Villa in some sense this year. You need a healthy and strong team to stay together to play in Europe if you want to do something good in cup competitions,” says Tottenham manager, Ange Postecoglou.”We’ve got no other options” Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham have only 13 first-team players fit for tomorrow’s match at Hoffenheim after a latest injury setback for Pape Sarr ⚪ pic.twitter.com/82gnrHZgXI— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) January 22, 2025 From this, Spurs strategist suggests that the squad should include more than 25 registered players.”If you want to play a lot of football, you need to increase the number of players in the team, although the rules about what constitutes homegrown players vary in European competitions. In this competition, you need to rotate your squad, essentially having two separate lineups, and we’re not able to do that. Consider the international calendar, it’s packed, with almost no rest. Football has drastically changed in the last five years compared to the 50 years before that. There will be problems if these changes continue at this pace,” says Australian. The match against Hoffenheim will also be missed by Pape Matar Sarr and Cristian Romero, who has started training. Other players absent from the squad include Dominic Solanke, Destiny Udogie, Guglielmo Vicario, Wilson Odobert, Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner, Yves Bissouma, while Micky van de Ven will return next week.You can’t spell anger without Ange: Spurs boss admits he’s lost the plotHoffenheim is also facing a number of issues, as several key players will miss the match against the English team. Florian Grillitsch, Grischa Promel, Ihlas Bebou, Marius Bulter, and Ozan Kabak will all be sidelined. Gift Orban and Erencan Yardimci are ineligible for the Europa League, while Haris Tabakovic is dealing with a knee tendonitis issue. Alexander Prass is ill and is uncertain for the match, while Anton Stach has returned to fitness and may feature.”It looks better with Anton Stach. He will not likely last 90 minutes though. Haris Tabakovic will be missing, he has an inflammation in his knee. Alex Prass has been ill the past few days. We will need to see with him.” 🗣️ Christian #Ilzer #TSGTOT pic.twitter.com/QnYpcmuyMR— TSG Hoffenheim EN (@tsghoffenheimEN) January 22, 2025 Additionally, it has been confirmed that Tom Bischof will move to Bayern Munich next summer. Meanwhile, Hoffenheim’s head coach, Christian Ilzer, expects his team to be fully engaged in their upcoming match against Tottenham.”This is something special. You fight for a year to qualify for European competitions, and then you get a big Premier League club as an opponent. We want to present ourselves in the best possible way in this match. Every team has its own way of playing, but we can’t execute the plan we had before. We didn’t start the season well, and we understand that it will be tough until the end. My job is to find the right solutions for everything,” concluded Austrian. Since the beginning of January, Hoffenheim has suffered two defeats and recorded one win, the most recent being a 3-1 victory away against Holstein Kiel last weekend.UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE – ROUND 7Thursday20.45: (3.25) AZ Alkmaar (3.50) Roma (2.30)20.45: (1.65) Bodo (3.80) Maccabi T.A. (5.40)20.45: (2.05) Fenerbahce (3.60) Olympique Lyon (3.80)20.45: (2.90) Hoffenheim (3.60) Tottenham (2.50)20.45: (2.75) Malmo (3.15) Twente (2.70)20.45: (2.15) Plzen (3.50) Anderlecht (3.60)20.45: (1.65) Porto (4.00) Olympiakos (6.00)20.45: (2.30) Qarabag (3.40) FCSB (3.10)23.00: (1.52) Eintr.Frankfurt (4.30) Ferencvaros (6.25)23.00: (2.95) Elfsborg (3.45) Nice (2.35)23.00: (2.50) Lazio (3.25) Sociedad (3.15)23.00: (2.60) Ludogorets (3.25) Midtjylland (2.80)23.00: (1.48) Man.Utd. (5.00) Rangers (6.70)23.00: (2.75) PAOK (3.20) Slavia Praha (2.65)23.00: (9.00) Rigas (5.00) Ajax (1.35)23.00: (2.20) St.Gilloise (3.50) Braga (3.45)**odds are subject to change**
