Europa League: Tottenham Hotspur vs Fiorentia Preview

Will spurs be able to cope with their hectic fixture list?

By Ross Tweddell /

Tottenham kick off a hectic set of fixtures with a Europa League last 32 clash against Fiorentina tonight.

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Mauricio Pochettino's side have six games in 17 days, including a trip to Italy in the reverse fixture against Fiorentina, and the Capital One Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley. Spurs are looking to better last season's progress in the Europa League, when they lost to Benfica in the last 16. The Lilly Whites lost the first leg 3-1 at White Hart Lane before coming close to forcing extra time over in Portugal. Spurs will be disappointed with their showing in the group stages of this season's competition. While Mauricio Pochettino was trying to get his message across in the infancy of his reign, Spurs finished second in a group that included BeŸiktaŸ, Asteras and Partizan Belgrade. They come up against a Fiorentina side that topped their group, finishing three points ahead of Guingamp and miles ahead of both PAOK and Dinamo Minsk. La Viola are fourth in Serie A, and go into Thursday's game with six wins and two draws in their last eight matches. They will of course be without the talented Juan Cuadrado who recently joined Chelsea. Their team will have a familiar look to it as Micah Richards is on loan from Manchester City, while Mohamed Salah has joined Fiorentina on loan as part of the Cuadrado deal. Elsewhere, Stefan Savic (Manchester City), Marcos Alonso (Bolton, Sunderland), Alberto Aquilani (Liverpool), David Pizarro (Manchester City), Borja Valero (West Brom), Alessandro Diamanti (West Ham) and Giuseppe Rossi (Manchester United, Newcastle) have all played for English teams. The omens look good as Tottenham have progressed each of the three times they have faced Italian opposition in the knockout rounds in European competition. Mauricio Pochettino has no injury worries to contend with while Fiorentina will be without 21-year-old winger Federico Bernardeschi and Rossi, who are both sidelined with knee injuries.