Tottenham Hotspur welcome Greek side Panathinaikos to White Hart Lane, for the last round of group stage games in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League. The Premier League club has one foot in the knock-out stages of the tournament and need only a draw to ensure qualification. The Greeks, meanwhile, must beat Andre Villas-Boas' side to qualify for the next round. Group leaders Lazio have already qualified and they travel to Slovenia to play NK Maribor in their fixture.

These two sides drew 1-1 in the reverse fixture in Greece, with Jose Toche cancelling Michael Dawson's first half goal.

Lennon-Defoe
Lennon and Defoe celebrate after Lennon scored a goal against Liverpool at White Hart Lane in London. Reuters

Where to Watch

Kick-off is set for 8:05 pm GMT. Live coverage will be available on ITV 4.

Overview

Spurs come into this game on a strong three-match winning streak and have not lost since the hugely disappointing 5-2 defeat to Arsenal in the north London derby in early November. In fact, in the four games since then, AVB's side have conceded only twice and scored eight times, suggesting Panathinaikos could be in for a long and difficult evening.

Tottenham beat Fulham by three goals at Craven Cottage over the weekend, with England striker Jermain Defoe's brace taking his season's tally to 12 goals in 20 appearances. The 30 year old now has four goals from his last three games. AVB will look to Defoe again, as Tottenham bid to be the second English club, after Newcastle United, to move to the next round of the tournament.

The Greeks also won over the weekend, beating Panionios away from home, courtesy goals from Antonios Petropoulos and Loukas Vyntra. The win lifted the club to sixth in the Super League, with 19 points from 13 games. More importantly though, the win marked a return to form, after a defeat at Platanias in November and a crushing 3-0 defeat to Lazio, in Italy.

Ibrahim Sissoko
Panathinaikos' Sissoko challenges NK Maribor's Ibraimi during their Europa League match in Athens. Reuters

Team Form

Tottenham Hotspur

  • Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): W W W D L
  • Last Result: Fulham 0 - 3 Tottenham Hotspur

Panathinaikos

  • Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): W L W W D
  • Last Result: Panionios 1- 2 Panathinaikos

Team News

Andre Villas Boas
Andre Villas Boas will be looking to avoid defeat against Panathinaikos in order to secure progression to the next stage. Reuters

AVB will be without Scott Parker, Younes Kaboul and Benoit Assou-Ekotto for this game but the biggest blow could be the absence of winger Gareth Bale. The 23 year old left-sided forward has been in brilliant form in recent games and reports have linked him with a move to Spanish champions Real Madrid. However, the Welshman pulled up with a hamstring problem in the game against Fulham and was replaced by Icelandic midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson. In addition, centre back Michael Dawson is also likely to miss the game.

Despite the fact Spurs have yet to qualify, a two-point cushion and home advantage could mean AVB rests some key players. Midfielders Moussa Dembele and Clint Dempsey and veteran French centre back William Gallas are among those would could be benched for this fixture.

Probable Line-Up: Lloris; Walker, Caulker, Vertonghen, Naughton; Lennon, Sandro, Huddlestone, Townsend; Sigurdsson; Defoe

The visitors enter this game with a full-strength playing squad available to manager Juan Roman Rocha. Spanish striker Toche will likely be recalled to lead the attack, with Ibrahim Sissoko playing in the hole. Elsewhere, the back line of Giorgios Seitaridis, Vyntra, Nikolaos Spiropoulos, Konstantinos Triandafillopulos will likely remain the same.

Probable Line-Up: Karnezis; Seitaridis, Vyntra, Spiropolous, Triandafillopulos; Christodoulopolous, Vitolo, Mavrias, Zeca; Sissoko; Toche

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