Match preview: Elfsborg (H) | OneFootball

It has been a horror show of a week yet again for Spurs, coming off the back of a defeat to relegation threatened Leicester City, they're having a bad time in the transfer market, with the window closing in just a few days time, Spurs are still yet to sign a player other then Czech goalkeeper Antonin Kinský, and not really close to signing anyone else at this moment in time. Now is the time for the Club to put last week's misery behind them and focus on achieving a top eight finish in the UEFA Europa League 'league phase' to go through straight to the last 16, without having the stress of an extra two games via the play-offs. With their injury record the minute, this would be hugely beneficial.

Spurs welcome Swedish outfit IF Elfsborg to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, who sit in 20th out of 36 in this year's competition, which as it stands means they would be rewarded with a play-off tie. They sit on 10 points, which is two above the highest placed team outside the top 24, so a result from this game could prove to be massive for the Club. They finished 7th in last year's 'Allsvenskan', the top flight of Swedish football, and their current season doesn't start until the end of March. With the weather being extremely cold during the winter months as you can imagine, Sweden's football calendar runs a bit different to that of the 'normal' European one.

Team news:

As expected Spurs are still without plenty of key players. Kinský and full back Djed Spence are still unavailable due to not being registered in the squad for European games. However every club can re-submit a new squad for the knockout stages. The likes of Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner, Dominic Solanke, Destiny Udogie, James Maddison, Pape Matar Sarr, Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero and Wilson Odobert are all definitely still sidelined. There is a slight positive though, as manager Ange Postecoglou has said that Dutch defender Micky van de Ven is back and he will play against IF Elfsborg. I'd imagine he won't start the match, but it is a huge boost for Spurs to have a key player back in the team.

What results need to happen for Spurs to qualify?

To put it plain and simple, Spurs just simply need to win their game. 3 points and they will be through to the last 16 of the competition. However if Spurs to manage to drop points and draw the match, they'd have to hope two of; Anderlecht, FCSB, Galatasaray, Bodo/Glimt, Viktoria Plzeñ and Olympiacos don't pick up wins in their games. If Spurs somehow managed to lose then they could drop to as low as 15th, but with Union Saint-Gilloise's inferior goal difference, it is unlikely they would finish above them. Spurs can also finish as high as 2nd, but would have to hope all of Lyon, Manchester United, Athletic Club and Eintracht Frankfurt all drop points.

The game is being shown live on TNT Sports 2 and the Discovery plus app at 8 PM kick off time, as well as there being a goals show on so you can keep up with every game and every goal as they go in if you want to see how each how the other games are doing to see what it means for Spurs!