Tottenham Hotspur vs AZ injury news with three out and one doubt for Europa League clash

Tottenham Hotspur turn their attention away from the Premier League this week as they face a Europa League game against Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar at home on Thursday night.

Ange Postecoglu’s side come off the back of an impressive 4-1 win over London rivals West Ham on Saturday. They went 1-0 down to a Mohammed Kudus goal before Dejan Kulusevski equalised after 36 minutes.

Yves Bissouma and Son Heung-Min both scored two other goals for Spurs alongside an own goal from West Ham keeper Alfonse Areola. It gave Spurs the three points and now has them seventh in the league, four points away from the Champions League places. They face an AZ Alkmaar side who are fifth in the Eredivisie, but they have suffered three league defeats in a row and will be desperate to improve against Postecoglu’s Spurs team.

Tottenham Hotspur injury news

Spurs have a relatively healthy squad as there could be just two absences from the Europa League game on Thursday evening. There were fears over midfielder James Maddison who was subbed off at half-time against West Ham. However, this was understood to be a tactical decision by Ange Postecoglu.

Wilson Odobert is recovering from a hamstring issue and has been ruled out of the game against AZ Alkmaar. He is yet to rejoin training but is getting closer. The Spurs manager said: “Wilson has done some good work in the last couple of weeks and hopefully joins the main group at some point next week.”

He is expected to return at the start of November. Meanwhile, Djed Spence picked up a groin strain before Saturday’s game against West Ham which ruled the defender out of the game.

Spence is currently being assessed over a return, but his issue is not expected to be serious. Postecoglu said after the West Ham match: “He picked up a bit of a groin strain in training. Hopefully, nothing too bad, but he missed out today.”

AZ Alkmaar injury news

Much like their opponents, AZ Alkmaar has a relatively fit squad going into Thursday’s match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. They also have two absentees but they are undergoing longer-term injuries.

Goalkeeper Sam Westerweld is dealing with a meniscus injury that he suffered in May at the back end of last season. The 22-year-old isn’t expected to return soon so it will likely remain that 20-year-old Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro will remain the starter.

Furthermore, central midfielder Lewis Schouten also remains out as he has been unavailable since July when he suffered an unknown injury that has kept him side-lined for over 100 days. He is expected to miss out on Thursday’s game too.