Tottenham have not shone with their form this season and they are not shining now. However, the Spurs will go into the upcoming European Cup match in high spirits. On Saturday, the London club heartily kicked the "breathless body" of Manchester City in front of fifty thousand fans of the English champion, inflicting on him a fifth consecutive defeat in official meetings. However, the victory allowed Spurs to take only sixth place in the Premier League standings, which they share on points with Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa. Also fresh in the memory is the recent defeat to Ipswich Town in London. However, if we talk about Tottenham's problems, they may seem like flowers in comparison to the crisis experienced by Roma. In mid-November, the Roman club was led by Claudio Ranieri, who became the third coach here since the beginning of the season. Before his appointment, the team was led by De Rossi and Juric, who were sacked for different reasons. The situation in Roma is certainly reflected in the game directly on the football field, where the Romans demonstrate a very low level. Bookmakers have identified the hosts as favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 1.78 on their victory.

Despite the fact that the London club is a representative of the Premier League, its serious attitude towards the Europa League is evident from the early stages. This is reflected in three wins and one defeat in the four rounds of the tournament. The only setback suffered by Spurs on the previous match day, when the star-studded Galatasaray in Istanbul did not stand on ceremony with the English visitors - 3:2. On the whole, the Europa League may highly motivate Tottenham's players also because the team may not qualify for next season's Champions League through the league, where they scored just over half of the possible points after twelve rounds.

Roma, in a series of scandals and resignations, has so far left football on the back burner. When else thirteen points would be the exuberance of the Romans at the end of thirteen rounds of Serie A. Now the club has appointed a very credible specialist as coach, who should set things right in a short period of time. At the same time, the away defeat to Napoli on Sunday emphasizes that we should not expect miracles from Ranieri's charges in the next couple of weeks.