In the midst of a crisis

The fightback came too late: Tottenham Hotspur suffered a 3-2 defeat away to Everton last Sunday. The scoreline masked the bleak performance in the first period, in which Tottenham fell 3-0 behind. Spurs find themselves in a serious crisis in the league. They have won only one of their last 10 matches in the Premier League – a victory away to Southampton (5-0), who are rooted to the bottom of the table. Tottenham are now already 13 points adrift of the European places, with a Champions League place unlikely to be achievable via the league.

That makes the cup competitions all the more important for the North London outfit. Spurs won the first leg of their League Cup semi-final against league leaders Liverpool by a 1-0 scoreline – and victory in this competition would at least secure them participation in the Conference League for next season. A possible triumph in the Europa League – Spurs were regarded as one of the top favourites for the title at the outset of the campaign – would even give them a Champions League berth. With six rounds of matches played, Ange Postecoglou's team occupy ninth position in the table and so still need points to qualify directly for the round of 16.

But the Australian-Greek coach's ongoing involvement in the project is currently under discussion in England. The Spurs boss takes responsibility for the current situation and wants to achieve a turnaround as quickly as possible. Rumours about possible successors – with former BVB coach Edin Terzic among the candidates – are already circulating around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The 59-year-old currently has major injury concerns to contend with, but tactical tweaks have not recently had the desired impact either. Four of the five players who usually line up in defence are absent. With first-choice goalkeeper Guiglielmo Vicario, the central defensive duo of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven and left-back Destiny Udogie unavailable, Postecoglou will have to significantly reshuffle the defence.

For Spurs, the match in Sinsheim on Thursday (23 January / 18:45 CET) will be all about achieving their full potential once again – and keeping their best chance of Champions League football alive.

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