Key events
Bodø/Glimt make three changes to their starting XI from the first leg. Two defenders out: Isak Dybvik Määttä and Sondre Brunstad Fet. One in: Brede Moe. In midfield, captain Patrick Berg and Håkon Evjen are back in favour; Villads Nielsen, like Määttä and Fet, drops to the bench.
Tottenham make one change, and it’s enforced. The injured James Maddison is replaced by Dejan Kulusevski.
The teams
Preamble
After last week’s efforts in N17 …
… Tottenham Hotspur have one foot in the final against (let’s go out on a limb and call it) Manchester United. However, there are reasons that give pause.
1. Ulrik Saltnes’ late goal will have given Bodø/Glimt belief
2. Ulrik Saltnes’ late goal will have planted seeds of doubt in the Spurs camp
3. Bodø/Glimt have won three of their previous four European ties in which they’ve lost the first leg away from home
4. Bodø/Glimt have already beaten Porto, Beşiktaş, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Twente, Olympiacos and Lazio at home during this campaign
5. This game will be played inside the Arctic Circle on an artificial pitch
6. Ange Postecoglou isn’t exactly renowned for shutting up shop
7. Lads it’s etc.
So you can pretty much guarantee that very few Spurs fans will be taking this for granted. But their team are in the box seat, and have the following going for them: they’ve won all five of their previous matches against Norwegian clubs; they’ve won their two most recent European semis (against Hajduk Split in the 1983-84 Uefa Cup and Ajax in the 2018-19 Champions League); they’ve won 18 of their previous 21 Uefa ties when winning the first leg at home; they’ve proved they can do solid with a battling 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarters; they’ve only lost two of their last 14 games in Europe; they’ve scored more goals (340) than any other team in Uefa Cup and Europa League history; and Ange Postecoglou isn’t exactly renowned for shutting up shop, so will go for the early goal that will surely kill off this tie.
We make that 7-7, then. Which would be more than enough to see Spurs through on aggregate. Kick-off is at 9pm in Bodø, 8pm BST. It’s on!
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