Tottenham Hotspur will endeavour to win their fifth game in a row across all competitions when they travel to the Groupama Arena in Budapest to face Ferencvaros in the Europa League on Thursday evening.
This fixture represents the first meeting between these two clubs and Spurs' first-ever encounter with Hungarian opposition.
Match preview
© Imago
Since suffering back-to-back Premier League defeats against Newcastle United (2-1) and Arsenal (0-1), Tottenham have turned a corner and have won each of their last four games in all competitions by an aggregate score of 11-2.
Ange Postecoglou's side secured a 3-0 home victory against Azerbaijani outfit Qarabag in their opening Europa League fixture last week despite playing for over 83 minutes with 10 men, and just three days later, they put Manchester United to the sword in impressive fashion by the same scoreline.
Bruno Fernandes was shown a straight red card for the Red Devils on the stroke of half time, but that should take nothing away from Tottenham's dominant showing at Old Trafford, with Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke all on the scoresheet to help the visitors cruise to victory and climb to eighth in the Premier League table, three points behind the top four.
Spurs are currently the bookmakers' favourite to go all the way and win the Europa League this term, but they enter Thursday's contest with Ferencvaros having won only one of their last nine European away matches (D2 L6) - a 2-1 success against Marseille in the Champions League in November 2022.
Tottenham may have never faced Ferencvaros before, but Postecoglou has come up against the Hungarian side twice in his managerial career, leading former club Celtic to a 2-0 home win and a 3-2 away victory in the 2021-22 Europa League group stage.
© Imago
Since winning their sixth consecutive Nemzeti Bajnoksag I title - and 35th in their history - last season, finishing a comfortable 16 points ahead of their nearest challengers, Ferencvaros have won 10, drawn two and lost two of their 14 competitive matches across all competitions at the start of this campaign.
Ferencvaros missed out on qualifying for the Champions League earlier this term, after suffering a 3-1 aggregate defeat to FC Midtjylland in the third qualifying round, but they secured their spot in the newly-expanded Europa League thanks to a 3-2 penalty-shootout triumph over Bosnian side FK Borac Banja Luka in the playoff round, following a 1-1 draw over two legs.
Managed by London-born Dutch coach Pascal Jansen, Ferencvaros fell to a 2-1 defeat away against Anderlecht in their opening Europa League fixture last week, with Adama Traore's fifth goal of the season ultimately proving to be just a consolation strike four minutes from time.
The Greens quickly bounced back from that defeat, though, and have preserved their perfect start in the Hungarian top flight after beating Puskas Akademia 3-0 in a top-of-the-table showdown last weekend, thanks to a superb second-half hat-trick from substitute Matheus Saldanha.
Ferencvaros are now gearing up for arguably their toughest test in the League Phase of this season's Europa League against Tottenham on Thursday, but they can take heart from the fact that they have only lost one of their previous 10 European home games (W5 D4) against English opposition - losing 3-0 to Leeds United back in 1969 in the European Cup.
Team News
© Imago
Ferencvaros appear to have a clean bill of health at present and Jansen is expected to name his strongest possible starting lineup, with a number of changes to be made to the side that beat Puskas Akademia last weekend.
Endre Botka, Gabor Szalai and Cristian Ramirez could all be recalled to join Ibrahim Cisse in defence, although Raul Gustavo could also retain his place if Jansen opts to select a back five, while Philippe Rommens may replace Habib Maiga and partner Mohammad Abu Fani in centre-midfield.
Adama Traore could move over from the right to the left flank if Kady is recalled, while Norwegian playmaker Kristoffer Zachariassen is set to operate centrally in behind either Barnabas Varga or Matheus Saldanha up front.
As for Tottenham, Radu Dragusin is suspended after being sent off against Qarabag last week, while Richarlison (calf) and Wilson Odobert (hamstring) both remain sidelined with injuries.
Postecoglou has also confirmed that Destiny Udogie and Son Heung-min will not be involved on Thursday - the former was taken off with a thigh issue at half time in the win at Man United, while the latter missed out entirely with a hamstring problem.
The Spurs boss will consider making some changes to his starting lineup, with Archie Gray and Ben Davies in line to start as full-backs, while Yves Bissouma, Pape Matar Sarr and Lucas Bergvall will all be pushing for starts in midfield.
Ferencvaros possible starting lineup:
Dibusz; Botka, Cisse, Szalai, Ramirez; Abu Fani, Rommens; Kady, Zachariassen, Traore; Varga
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Vicario; Gray, Romero, Van de Ven, Davies; Sarr, Bissouma, Bergvall; Johnson, Solanke, Werner
We say: Ferencvaros 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Ferencvaros are regarded as one of the weaker teams in this season's Europa League, but they will hope to frustrate Tottenham on Thursday and should not be taken lightly by Postecoglou's side. Nevertheless, even if the Aussie boss opts to freshen up his starting lineup, it is difficult to back against Spurs coming out on top in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
