KF Shkendija vs Tottenham LIVE!
Tottenham's arduous Europa League qualifying campaign takes them to North Macedonia today as they visit KF Shkendija.
Jose Mourinho's side survived a scare against Lokomotiv Plovdiv last week, coming from behind to win late on as the minnows finished with nine men.
Spurs were due to be playing two games in 48 hours but Tuesday night's EFL Cup clash against Leyton Orient was called off after several members of the O's squad tested positive for coronavirus.
The tight schedule brought about by the delayed start to the season because of the pandemic means Thursday's tie will be played over a single leg rather than the usual two.
Date, time and venue
Shkendija vs Tottenham is scheduled for a 7pm BST kick-off on Thursday, September 24.
The match will be played behind closed doors at the Philip II Arena with no fans due to be present due to government guidelines regarding coronavirus.
How to watch
TV channel: The match will be televised live on Premier Sports 1, with coverage starting at 6:55pm.
Live stream: Premier Sports subscribers will be able to stream the match online. Click here for more information.
Team news
Jose Mourinho has laid down the gauntlet for Dele Alli by challenging the 24-year-old to perform, so it would only be fair if the 24-year-old returns to the XI, having been left out of the squad for the last two matches.
Mourinho is not taking the Europa League qualifiers lightly, but the cancellation of Tuesday's Carabao Cup tie against Leyton Orient may prompt the Tottenham boss to rotate his side more than originally planned in North Macedonia.
Joe Hart was in line for his Spurs debut at Brisbane Road, so may be given a chance ahead of Hugo Lloris, while Serge Aurier is also pushing for his first start of the season, even while his future remains uncertain.
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Sergio Reguilon is not part of the squad, so Ben Davies is likely to continue at left-back, leaving the Spaniard free to face Newcastle on Sunday.Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso are both struggling to play 90 minutes at present, so the likelihood is that Mourinho will start the Frenchman on Thursday and save Lo Celso for the weekend.
Harry Kane has to play, according to Mourinho at least, while he remains the club's only recognised centre-forward but the manager's other trusted forwards, Lucas Moura and Heung-min Son, will surely be rested.
Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso are both struggling to play 90 minutes at present, so the likelihood is that Mourinho will start the Frenchman on Thursday and save Lo Celso for the weekend.
Harry Kane has to play, according to Mourinho at least, while he remains the club's only recognised centre-forward but the manager's other trusted forwards, Lucas Moura and Heung-min Son, will surely be rested.
Predicted Tottenham XI (4-2-3-1): Hart; Aurier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Davies; Winks, Ndombele; Lamela, Dele, Bergwijn; Kane
Prediction: Shkendija 0-3 Tottenham
Tottenham struggled past inferior opposition last week, but will surely have learnt from their sluggish approach to that game and looked much sharper in the Premier League rout of Southampton on Sunday.
They will be boosted by the fixture pile-up not being quite as severe as had been planned thanks to the cancellation of the Orient tie and they will be keen to build some momentum with a third successive win ahead of hosting Newcastle on Sunday.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
Unsurprisingly, this will be the first ever meeting between the two sides.
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Alli STARTS, Kane on bench
Jose Mourinho has handed a recall to midfielder Dele Alli against Shkendija.
The 24-year-old has been left out of the previous two matchday squads but always looked like to return as Spurs cope with a packed fixture schedule.
With that in mind, Harry Kane, Lucas Moura, Giovani Lo Celso, Hugo Lloris and Matt Doherty all come out of the starting XI and will be on the bench.
As expected, Serge Aurier will get a chance to impress at right-back while Joe Hart makes his competitive debut for Spurs.
Tottenham team news Starting XI: Hart: Aurier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Davies; Winks, Ndombele; Lamela, Alli, Bergwijn; Son.
Subs: Lloris, Doherty, Kane, Dier, Sissoko, Lo Celso, Lucas Moura.
Shkendija team news
Starting XI: Zahov; Murati, Krivak, Bejtulai (c), Pavic; Totre, Dita; Nafiu, Ahmedi, Doriev; Ibraimi.
Subs: Redjepi, Sadriu, Zejnullai, Merdjani, Neziri, Es Sahhal, Ramadani.
Team news coming up!
Tonight's match won't be played at Shkendija's usual home in Tetovo.
The game has been moved to the National Arena Todor Preoski in the capital of Skopje, which hosts North Macedonia's international fixtures.
Photo: Reuters
Winks backs Dele to find form
Harry Winks has backed Dele Alli to get back to his best, as his Tottenham team-mate prepares to return to the squad in North Macedonia tonight.
Photo: Getty/Tottenham Hotspur FCAlli is part of the travelling party for their Europa League qualifier against Shkendija after being left out of the last two matches by Jose Mourinho.
The Spurs boss yesterday said he was convinced Alli would remain at the club beyond the end of the transfer window, despite interest from Paris Saint-Germain, but laid down the gauntlet to the 24-year-old, saying he had “to have an answer and perform” if selected this evening.
Ahead of the third qualifying round in Skopje, Winks said: “Dele is a top player and you don’t get to the level he’s got to through luck.
"You get there through hard work and great ability. It might be a dip in confidence, I don’t know the situation. But he is a fantastic player and a top pro as well.
“I am sure everybody in the team will back me in saying he will get back to his best form — he will do. He’s responded really well [to missing the last two matches]. He’s been training really hard.”
Here's how Tottenham could line up tonight...
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Hart; Aurier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Davies; Winks, Ndombele; Lamela, Dele, Bergwijn; Kane.
Team news, injuries and suspensions
Jose Mourinho has laid down the gauntlet for Dele Alli by challenging the 24-year-old to perform against KF Shkendija tonight, so it would only be fair if the 24-year-old returns to the XI, having been left out of the squad for the last two matches.
Photo: ReutersJoe Hart was in line for his Spurs debut at Brisbane Road, so may be given a chance ahead of Hugo Lloris, while Serge Aurier is also pushing for his first start of the season, even while his future remains uncertain.
Sergio Reguilon is not part of the squad, so Ben Davies is likely to continue at left-back, leaving the Spaniard free to face Newcastle on Sunday.
Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso are both struggling to play 90 minutes at present, so the likelihood is that Mourinho will start the Frenchman on Thursday and save Lo Celso for the weekend.
With Harry Kane set to start, Lucas Moura and Heung-min Son will surely be rested.
How to watch the game tonight TV channel
The match will be televised live on Premier Sports 1, with coverage starting at 6:55pm. Sky subscribers can watch on channel 412, while those who have Virgin TV should tune in to channel 551.
The channel will also broadcast Spurs' next match in the Europa League play-off qualifying round should they progress in North Macedonia.
Live stream
Premier Sports subscribers will be able to stream tonight's game online using Premier Player.
Last time out
Tottenham will be hoping for a more straightforward tie tonight after overcoming a brief scare against Lokomotiv Plovdiv.
Photo: GettyThe Bulgarians took a shock lead through Grigor Minchev with only 20 minutes to go. But Spurs won a penalty after handball on the line, resulting in Karagaren being sent off, and Harry Kane dispatched the penalty.
Plovdiv went down to nine men after Dinis Almeida was found to have scuffed the penalty spot and Tanguy Ndombele's scrappy strike put Spurs into the third qualifying round with only four minutes to play.
Hello and welcome to our LIVE Europa League coverage of Shkendija vs Tottenham tonight!