Europa League fixtures preview: Basel vs Tottenham

Injury-plagued Tottenham will be hoping to beat Basel in Switzerland after their disappointing Europa League quarter-final first-leg 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane.

If someone told Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas that he would be pleased at a 2-2 home draw with Basel, the Portuguese would have probably laughed in castle-builder’s face. However the game didn’t go to plan for the Spurs, who were two goals down in the 35th minute of the game, with Frei and Stocker scoring two in four-minutes interval. Adebayor and Sigurdsson put Tottenham back into contention. As it turned out the draw was a decent result for the Spurs in that game after their first half slump and they will try to deliver a fight against inventive and dangerous Swiss side.

Tottenham team news:

Lennon (knee), Gallas (calf) and most importantly Bale (ankle) set to miss the forthcoming clash against Basel after picking up injuries in their first leg against the Swiss outfit.

Defoe will also unavailable for selection after aggravating his pelvic injury, with Adebayor taking his place up front.

Kyle Walker has served his suspension and is likely to be picked up by Tottenham at his regular right-back position instead of Kyle Naughton.

Gylfi Sigurdsson could also feature in the starting line-up after his decent performance against Everton, while Dawson will start in the heart of Spurs’ defense. Brad Friedel will take his place behind the sticks.

Basel team news:

Basel boss Murat Yakin has few injury problems. He is likely to field all his big guns in pursuit of European glory with Stellar, Salah and Stocker to test Spurs’ defensive orders for the second time. Experienced forward Alexander Frei could also be handed first-team start.

Marcelo Diaz and Park Joo-Ho have returned after serving suspension, while Cabral has returned to full fitness.

Philipp Degen has recovered from injury but is unlikely to feature in the starting XI.