Tottenham Hotspur vs Elfsborg Prediction: Son to step up

Tottenham Hotspur's Premier League woes continued on Sunday as they threw away a lead at home to lose 2-1 to a struggling Leicester City side, intensifying the pressure on boss Ange Postecoglou. His side are back in action at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday (20:00, TNT Sports 2) as they welcome IF Elfsborg in the Uefa Europa League.

Spurs need to win to secure their place in the round of 16, while the visitors are hoping to tighten their spot in the play-off rankings. Read on for my Tottenham Hotspur vs Elfsborg prediction, featuring the latest match odds and team news.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Elfsborg Odds

Spurs have won four of their Europa League fixtures thus far, with two of them coming on home soil. They are 2/11 to triumph on Thursday, but there is better value in adding both teams to score to this selection at 6/4 (which has an implied probability of 40%). BTTS has struck in five of the hosts' matches in this competition to date.

These two teams have drawn three games between them in the league phase, and the stalemate is on offer at 6/1 in north London. Elfsborg are yet to win on foreign turf in this competition, and they are 14/1 to inflict more misery on Tottenham.

Over 3.5 goals is available at 1/1, which looks enticing as this threshold has been met in three of Spurs' Europa League fixtures, as well as in two of Elfsborg's.

Football Odds

Team News

The pressure on Postecoglou is not being helped by the number of injuries he is having to manage at the moment. Dominic Solanke (knee), Guglielmo Vicario (ankle), Brennan Johnson (calf), Wilson Odobert, Timo Werner and Destiny Udogie (all hamstring) are all out of action for the hosts.

Forward Richarlison, who recently returned to action from a lay-off of his own, had to be removed in the defeat to Leicester with a groin problem, casting doubt over his involvement on Thursday. He will be assessed before the match, along with James Maddison (unspecified), Pape Matar Sarr (fitness) and Djed Spence (knock).

Spurs' two main centre-backs Micky van de Ven (thigh) and Cristian Romero (hamstring) have returned to training this week, but it looks like this game will come too soon for them to be considered for selection.

Goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, who joined this month from Slavia Prague, is unable to feature as he is not registered in Tottenham's European squad, leaving Brandon Austin to make another rare start for the club.

Elfsborg travel to N17 with no fresh injury concerns, and Oscar Hiljemark will be delighted to have so many options available to him for this crunch clash. The Swedish outfit have had to deal with the loss of striker Michael Baidoo to Plymouth Argyle this month, which was far from ideal.

Jalal Abdullai was deployed in the centre-forward role in last week's victory over Nice and the youngster is set to lead the line again for Di Gule. Arber Zeneli and Gottfrid Ebbe Rapp are expected to provide support from the flanks.

Tottenham and both teams to score @ 6/4

After another defeat at home in the Premier League, Spurs and particularly Postecoglou, cannot afford to mess up qualification to the knockout stage of the Europa League.

Yes, the injury situation hasn't been ideal, but they still should have been picking up more points than they have done in the last couple of months. He is in need of support from Daniel Levy in this transfer window as Spurs are slowly being dragged into a relegation battle, which they don't look prepared for.

Tottenham need a shot of adrenalin and they can get that by ending the league phase of their European campaign strongly. A win guarantees them a spot in the last 16, and with the current atmosphere around N17, Postecoglou and his players simply have to ensure they get the three points here.

Their makeshift defence is struggling, though, and they can't help but ship goals each time they play, and as such I think there will be goals on offer to Elfsborg on Thursday night. However, Spurs should still have more than enough attacking resources available to make sure they outscore their opponents.

A win would give them a confidence boost ahead of a tough trip to Brentford on Sunday in the Premier League, where they desperately need to turn their fortunes around.

Son Heung-min anytime goalscorer @ 1/1

During Spurs' slide down the table, captain Son Heung-min has come under scrutiny from supporters, which seems ridiculous considering he has dedicated almost 10 years of his life to this club.

The South Korea international has stayed at Tottenham time and again in a bid to try and help them land silverware, and that loyalty should reciprocated from the fans. Son has been on hand to provide three goals for his team in five Europa League appearances this season, including a brace at Hoffenheim a week ago.

He will be determined more than anyone to make sure Spurs avoid any hiccups and progress to the round of 16 with a victory over Elfsborg, and so I think 1/1 offers good value for him to find the back of the net on home turf in this crunch clash.

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