The Tottenham Spurs and AEL Limassol are playing on the UEFA Europa League playoff schedule on Thursday and the match is live from Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in in Larnaca Cyrus and at 12 pm ET and has Hotspur looking to advance and this is a big match, as the winner of the overall tourney can get into the Champions League and that is what everyone wants and this match comes before the return leg in England.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said the team will not overlook AEL and now they have the chance to get off to a good start in this run of the tournament. The Europe League playoff qualifier will get the team into the group stage and it comes after Limassol won over Zenit St Petersburg in their first matchup last month in the Champions League third round qualifier, but the team fell after that in Russia but they showed they can play with top competition in Europe.
Tottenham has done a good job in recent years in these tournaments and the team ended up in the last 16 last season and eventually lost to Benfica, who ended up as the second place team after losing in the finals. Tottenham comes in after coming in sixth on the EPL table last season and that had the team dealing with the change of André Villas-Boas to Tim Sherwood and they had Emmanuel Adebayor as their top goal scorer last season.
Limassol came in second last season in the Cypriot First Division and now they have the first leg of the playoff against Tottenham. Jorge Monteiro and Orlando Sa had over 30 goals combined last season and they are two players to watch for AEL, while the Spurs come in after winning their first game in the Premier League against West Ham United away and now they return home on Sunday to play against the Queens Park Rangers.
Tottenham has the chance to make a move in the EPL this year and things will be tough at the top, as teams like Manchester United and others in the middle look to have better seasons than last year. Man U was right behind the Spurs and they are going to try and make a strong push this season, while Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal as well as Liverpool come in after being the top four teams. Liverpool is working on getting Mario Balotelli and that could be a major move for the team as they try and push ahead of Man City after Luis Suarez left for Barcelona.
Tottenham has a new manager and now they are looking to keep things on the right track here before they play at white Hart Lane for the next matchup. The team also makes their season EPL debut at home this weekend after winning away and that was a nice start after the team went sixth last season and ended up in the final 16 in the Europa.
Check here for the Tottenham Spurs and AEL Limassol live coverage for the Europa League.
