Hoffenheim vs Tottenham Hotspur Prediction: Goals expected when Spurs are involved

Tottenham Hotspur suffered more embarrassment in the Premier League at the weekend as they lost 3-2 at Everton. There were some unsavoury scenes after the full-time whistle, with supporters venting their frustrations at Ange Postecoglou and Son Heung-min. Spurs' attention now turns to the Uefa Europa League as they travel to face Hoffenheim at PreZero Arena on Thursday (17:45, TNT Sports 2).

The German side head into this off the back of claiming a first win in seven games in the Bundesliga, beating Holstein Kiel 3-1 away from home. They are five points behind the visitors in the league phase table and are in need of a strong finish if they are to keep their European campaign alive. Below you will find my Hoffenheim vs Tottenham Hotspur prediction, accompanied by the latest match odds and team news.

Hoffenheim vs Tottenham Hotspur Odds

Hoffenheim have won just one of their Europa League clashes so far, which did come at home against Dynamo Kyiv. They are 2/1, which has an implied probability of 33.3%, to win this match, which does look tempting as Spurs head here with five defeats from their previous six league appearances.

The hosts have played out two stalemates on home soil in Europe this term, and the draw is on offer at 11/4. Tottenham have won just one of their three away trips in this competition so far and they are 6/5 to come away with the three points.

Spurs have seen at least four goals scored in two of their six outings in the league phase so far, while their defeat at Everton last time out also saw this threshold met. Over 3.5 goals is available at 11/10 (47.6%) for Thursday's contest.

Football Odds

Team News

Hoffenheim boss Christian Ilzer will feel like a weight has been lifted off his players at the weekend as they finally got back to winning ways in the Bundesliga, and he will have been pleased to see attacking stars Andrej Kramaric and Adam Hlozek get on the scoresheet.

Kramaric netted his seventh of the campaign in the German top flight, while Hlozek bagged his third brace of the campaign in all competitions. Kramaric is waiting to open his account in Europe this term, but his attacking teammate already has two to his name so far.

The two will be expecting to start this crunch clash with Spurs, and they will be relishing the chance to face a side who have conceded an average of 3.6 goals per game in the Premier League this season.

Erencan Yardimci and Gift Orban are unavailable for Die Kraichgauer as they were not registered in Ilzer's Europa League squad. Anton Stach overcame a thigh problem to start at the weekend, and is expected to keep his place in the midfield for the visit of Tottenham.

Christopher Lenz, Florian Grillitsch, Umut Tohumcu, Grischa Promel, Ihlas Bebou and Marius Bulter and Ozan Kabak are ruled out through injury.

Spurs boss Postecoglou has a head-scratcher ahead of this clash. New goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky isn't registered to feature, first-choice Guglielmo Vicario is injured and Fraser Forster hasn't been seen since the turn of the year.

This could leave Brandon Austin to make only his second start for the club. Yves Bissouma, Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson were all missing at Everton and the latter two are ruled out for Thursday.

“We're hoping that it is not too serious, but it will certainly keep him out for a few weeks," Postecoglou said in his update about Solanke.

Spurs are also going to be without the services of Timo Werner, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Rodrigo Bentancur, Destiny Udogie and Wilson Odobert because of various injuries.

Draw or Tottenham and over 2.5 goals @ 23/20

As much as this season has been disappointing for Tottenham, they have been involved in some entertaining matches, including their latest defeat at Everton. Their sometimes naive high line leads them to conceding a lot of goals, but they also have the quality to find the back of the net themselves

They travel to Germany missing a lot of key players and they remain with a makeshift back four that includes youngster Archie Gray, who predominantly plays in midfield. There is no structure or cohesion with the current back four, which will invite Hoffenheim's attackers in on Thursday.

Spurs need to give their supporters and themselves something after their recent torrid run in the Premier League, and they know that three points here will put them on the cusp of the round of 16.

They will be fired up for this clash, as will the hosts, who will look to strengthen their play-off hopes. This fixture pits two sides with vulnerable defences, and so I'm not expecting goals to be an issue at ProZero Arena.

Over 2.5 goals has been a winning selection in two of Hoffenheim's last three Europa League outings, while only two of Tottenham's European encounters have seen less than three goals scored.

Spurs are in desperate need of a win to give themselves a lift, but there is no guarantees at the moment as they look to be in crisis. I think the insurance of a draw is best used if covering the visitors here as Hoffenheim will be smelling blood.

Adam Hlozek anytime goalscorer @ 15/8

Hlozek's brace at the weekend ended a six-game goal drought in the Bundesliga, and he will look to build some momentum in front of goal by finding the back of the net against Tottenham.

Given how frail Spurs' defence has been this season, he will be fancying his chances to get on the scoresheet. The Czech attacker's two goals in this competition came here in the 2-0 victory over Dynamo Kyiv, and he will be eager to add to his tally in a crunch game for his team.

Tottenham's players will be nervy after their recent form, and I can see the Hoffenheim forward profiting from this on Thursday evening.

Offers

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We will be Top Price on Tottenham to beat Hoffenheim with selected bookmakers using Oddschecker for the comparison. (Available from 09:30 Thursday)

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