Who Will Travel with Spurs to Azerbaijan?

Spurs have managed a good start to their busy winter schedule, but it’s safe to say they’d prefer not to have a 5,000 mile round trip to Azerbaijan midweek before a derby match against Chelsea.

Alas, such are the perils of the Europa League, and Spurs are already no stranger to such travels. The weekend’s opponent, however, makes this whole matter a bit trickier than it would be otherwise.

Yes, Jose Mourinho and his Chelsea side have been humbled so far this Premier League season. After this past weekend’s win over Norwich, they sit 15th in the table, a full 14 points behind league leaders Leicester City.

All that being said, they’re still Chelsea, and many observers of the Norwich win claimed to have seen hints that the Blues were regaining some of the form that made them this season’s reigning champions to begin with.

Those are questions for another day, however. For now, who can we expect Spurs to bring along with them to the far reaches of Europe, knowing full well that such a trip might leave the travelers exhausted and perhaps unfit for Sunday’s match?

Tottenham - Europa League - 26th November 2015 - Football tactics and formations /

The reality is that most of the usual starting XI will still have to travel for this match, but they should be sparred having to play a full 90 minutes. Mauricio Pochettino hasn’t favored too much rotation for these Europa League matches, so we shouldn’t expect anything too dramatic. It wouldn’t be unprecedented for the Argentine manager to hold back Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli however.

Especially against Qarabag FK, this shouldn’t be too big of an issue. While the Azerbaijani champions have played better than just about anyone expected, they are still the minnows of Europa League Group J. They are more of a threat at home – all four of their points in group play have been earned in their own stadium – but even Tottenham’s second team should be enough to see off the scrappy Atlılar.

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Hopefully. For all the noise Pochettino makes by starting a strong side in these games this season, his team has often looked lackadaisical when it’s on the pitch against European opponents. Away against Monaco and Anderlecht they only earned a single point. In an increasing competitive competition like the Europa League, those half-hearted displays are no longer good enough.

Thankfully, a good number of the probable starting XI for Thursday have something to prove to both Pochettino and the fans.

Tom Carroll had a wonderful game in the reverse fixture back in September, expertly controlling the midfield and keeping Qarabag’s build-up play in check. Unfortunately he sullied whatever good will he earned from that performance by being directly responsible for both goals in a 2-1 Arsenal win in the Capital One Cup.

Kieran Trippier hasn’t started well for Spurs since joining in the summer, but he can begin to redeem himself here.

Next: Tottenham are Keeping Tabs on Andrija Zivkovic

Andros Townsend was only recently allowed back into the first team after a recent bout of petulance. Even if he’s still not long for this Spurs team, he should view Thursday’s game as a chance to prove to other teams that he can perform.

Being first in Group J, Spurs have a little flexibility in games like this. Still, we shouldn’t expect anything less that a determined performance on this hot Tottenham team. They’ll want to lock in progression to the next round of the Europa League and sustain the good form that has taken them back into Champions League contention domestically.