A truly miserable season offers Tottenham Hotspur and Ange Postecoglou one last chance for redemption: the Europa League, where the Premier League's 14th-place side can still qualify for next season's UEFA Champions League and perhaps save the manager's job.
MORE - Europa League schedule & bracket | Premier League race for European places
Up next in the quarterfinals is Eintracht Frankfurt, who are already on pace to qualify for the Champions League as they sit 3rd in the Bundesliga with eight games left to play (the top four all qualify). Domestic results have, however, suffered a bit since Omar Marmoush joined Manchester City for $72 million during the January transfer window. Prior to his departure (with 15 goals and 9 assists), Eintracht had won three straight league games, yet they have won just three of 10 since (3W-3D-4L). With Marmoush, they were the 3rd-best attacking side in the Bundesliga (42 goals in 18 games. Without him, they are only 9th (13 goals in 10 games). 22-year-old French forward Hugo Ekitike has stepped up with five goals and two assists in 13 appearances (all competitions) and World Cup hero Mario Gotze, now 32, has three goals in four games as well.
Only time will tell how much good came from Spurs' 3-1 victory over last-place Southampton on Sunday, as they were comfortably the better side in the first half but couldn't put the game away until the final seconds of stoppage time. Even the brightest spot on the day — Brennan Johnson's first-half brace — turned dark as a squabble over the late penalty kick saw Mathys Tel score his first PL goal and Johnson sulk over not completing his hat trick. A sequence to succinctly sum up Spurs' season. Just as fitting would be winning the club's first trophy since 2008, finishing in the bottom half of the PL and a large portion of the fanbase wanting to fire the manager anyway.
How to watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Eintracht Frankfurt live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 3 pm ET Thursday
Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium — London
Streaming: Paramount+
Tottenham Hotspur team news
OUT: Dejan Kulusevski (foot), Radu Dragusin (torn ACL - out for season), Kevin Danso (hamstring)
Eintracht Frankfurt team news
OUT: Elye Wahi (knee), Timothy Chandler (hip) | QUESTIONABLE: Kevin Trapp (calf), Can Uzun (illness), Ansgar Knauff (knee), Krisztian Lisztes (illness), Eric Ebimbe (undisclosed)
Tottenham Hotspur vs Eintracht Frankfurt prediction
Unless Spurs suddenly and magically strike a perfect balance of attacking threat and defensive solidity (unlikely), it's difficult to see them keeping a clean sheet against a side so adept at the direct counter-attacking that causes them loads of problems on a regular basis. Spurs 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt.
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