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Encouraging Start for Tottenham Hotspur Over Busy Beginning

By Aaron Coe

Tottenham Hotspur's English striker Harry Kane (C) celebrates scoring his team's sixth goal from the penalty spot as Manchester United's Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea (L) lies on the floor during the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on October 4, 2020. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
Tottenham Hotspur's English striker Harry Kane (C) celebrates scoring his team's sixth goal from the penalty spot as Manchester United's Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea (L) lies on the floor during the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on October 4, 2020. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Tottenham Hotspur, Erik Lamela, Heung-Min Son, Tanguy Ndombele
Tottenham Hotspur, Erik Lamela, Heung-Min Son, Tanguy Ndombele (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images) /

The Long Road to Europa League

As soon as Arsenal hoisted the FA Cup, Tottenham Hotspur faithful knew this was going to be a long slog just to reach the Group Stage of Europe’s second most prestigious club competition. With the journey clearly known, Tottenham knew they had to win three matches to make it to the draw and the team handled their business well.

The first match was the toughest of the three as it was only the second game of the season and followed the difficult 0-1 opening day loss to Everton. Tottenham struggled to find their footing and even fell behind Lokomotiv rather late in the second half. However, since that time, the entire squad seemed to receive the wake-up call and have performed much better.

First Kane hammered home a penalty and then Lucas Moura put Spurs through to the third-round qualifier. From there, Spurs handled KF Shkendija with a bit of style, following a small blip where they allowed Shkendija to tie the game with a worldie against Joe Hart. However, a little additional ammunition in the form of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Harry Kane helped propel the team to two late goals and the 1-3 victory. In the final, playoff round of qualifying, Tottenham scored early and often as they put Maccabi Haifa to the sword 7-2 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

All told, Tottenham have outscored opponents 12 to 4 for a plus eight goal differential from the three Europa League matches. Now that the draw has occurred and Spurs opponents have been identified, Tottenham can focus on advancement. Given the double-legged affairs that come in Group Stage, opposed to the one and done of this year’s qualifying campaign, the margin for error is much greater, but we should not expect much error from the team. European competitions are something Jose Mourinho knows well, and Spurs are certainly one of the favorites, even before the draw.

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