Gent vs Tottenham Hotspur, Europa League 2016/17: Where to watch live, preview, betting odds and possible XI

Gent host Tottenham in the Europa League clash on 16 February.

Gent take on Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League round of 32 clash at the Ghelamco-arena on Thursday (16 February).

Where to watch live

Kick-off is at 6pm GMT. Live coverage of the match is available on BT Sport 3.

Overview

Gent finished second in Group H during the group stages with eight points from six games, four points behind leaders Shakhtar Donetsk. In the group stages, they have managed only two wins, which came against Konyaspor, while they settled for a point against Braga.

The Belgian outfit suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of AS Eupen in their last league fixture. Out of the five matches played in this calendar year, Gent have managed only two wins, which came against Sporting Charleroi and Club Brugge.

Hein Vanhaezebrouck has admitted that his side will not be afraid of Tottenham for the first leg clash at home. He will be hoping Gent can seal a victory over the north London club, while also keeping a clean sheet in the process.

Dele Alli and Harry Kane — Alli and Kane are part of Tottenham's talented English core. Getty Images

Meanwhile, Tottenham enter this tie after suffering a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool in the Premier League. Sadio Mane's brace in the first half saw sufficient for the Reds to seal three points at Anfield.

Maurico Pochettino's side were demoted to the second tier of the European club competition after they finished third on the table in Champions League group stages. AS Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen finished above the Premier League side.

Tottenham have managed only one clean sheet in the European competition this season. Despite this record, the English club will be hoping to bounce back from their last defeat and a victory over Gent could put them in the driver's seat to qualify for the next round of the Europa League.

What managers say

Hein Vanhaezebrouck: "We are Gent and we are not afraid of anybody. In the past it worked out very well in the Champions League and several other games," Vanhaezebrouck insisted. Braga, who is normally always a qualifier, we were very impressive against them but only took two points. Against Shakhtar [Donetsk] we played two very good game but individual errors and their individual class made the difference. We were beaten severely. We are going to have to be top - we cannot give away easy mistakes or they [Spurs] will cash it immediately," Vanhaezebrouck was reported as saying by the Evening Standard.

Mauricio Pochettino: "In football, sometimes performances like that happen and you can't explain why. Look at Barcelona at Paris St Germain, where they lost 4-0. Sometimes you don't have a good day: it happens. We feel disappointed because every time you play you want to show your best, and people expect it of you. Before we had been talking a lot about how we'd play that game, how we'd start. But sometimes it happens," Pochettino told the Evening Standard.