PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv vs Tottenham Prediction & Betting Tips - Europa League

Prediction published on 15/09/2020, 04:29  by James | Modified on 16/09/2020 at 05:03 in Europa League Predictions

Tottenham begin their seasonal European adventure on Thursday when they travel to Bulgaria to take on Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the second qualifying round of the Europa League. This will be a single-legged tie to combat fixture congestion. Last season, Spurs competed in the Champions League and made it to the Round of 16, where they were dumped out by RB Leipzig. It is the first time in four seasons that they won't compete in the Champions League, a drop-off in performance from their UCL final appearance in 2019. They qualified for this competition after finishing sixth in the Premier League last season. Plovdiv finished fifth in the Bulgarian top flight last season. They have never qualified for the group stage of a European competition before and they have only played seven European matches over the last decade, all in the qualifying rounds. They reached this round of the Europa League by beating Montenegrin side Iskra 1-0. This is the first competitive meeting between Plovdiv and Spurs.

Both teams come into this match off the back of domestic defeats. Spurs lost their Premier League opener 1-0 to Everton, a home performance that manager Jose Mourinho blasted as 'lazy'. The lack of inspiration in the Spurs team may worry their fans but they should be able to cause Plovdiv more problems. Plovdiv lost 3-1 to Ludogorets, a match in which they took the lead before falling to defeat. It's uncertain how strong a team Mourinho will play for this tie but they should be able to control this game comfortably and deny their opponents opportunities. Back Spurs to win with a clean sheet.