4-3-3: How Tottenham Hotspur could line up in Europa League clash vs AZ Alkmaar | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur will be keen to get back to winning ways when they travel to the Netherlands to take on AZ Alkmaar in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday night.

Ange Postecoglou’s side seemed to be picking up the pace when they beat Manchester United and Ipswich Town to record back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since September 2024.

However, their momentum was halted by a resurgent Manchester City side who wrestled their demons to emerge from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a narrow 1-0 win.

Nevertheless, Tottenham will head into the game against AZ on the back of a four-game unbeaten streak in the Europa League.

They’ve already gotten the better of their Dutch counterparts this season, running out 1-0 winners when both sides met in the League Phase.

With Postecoglou determined to live up to his promise of delivering silverware in his second season, he’d be eager to return from the Netherlands with a decent result in the bag.

How Tottenham could line up

Tottenham could be without 11 players for the game against AZ.

Dejan Kulusevski has been spotted wearing a protective boot on his left foot and is expected to miss at least a week.

Radu Dragusin remains sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament tear, while Dominic Solanke and Richarlison are also unlikely to recover in time.

First-choice defensive pairing Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero will miss the first leg against AZ, but they could be available for the reverse fixture.

Ben Davies might also be handed a breather due to workload concerns.

The likes of Antonin Kinsky, Fraser Forster, Timo Werner, and Sergio Reguilon were left out of the Europa League squad.

In the absence of Van de Ven and Romero, Archie Gray will likely partner Kevin Danso at centre-back, with Djed Spence set to return to the XI after dropping to the bench against Man City.

Pape Matar Sarr could get the nod to replace Kulusevski in midfield ahead of Lucas Bergvall, while Son Heung-min returns to the forward line alongside Mathys Tel and Brennan Johnson.