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Tottenham managed a 1-1 draw at home against Eintracht Frankfurt, but since they are 15th in the Premier League and coming off a 4-2 loss to lowly Wolves, that actually sets up Spurs as the underdog in the second leg of the Europa League quarterfinals on the road against the Eagles at the raucous Deutsche Bank Park.

Here are three Tottenham players who need to step up the most in order for the club to survive to the next round of the Europa League despite all the turmoil around them.

GK Guglielmo Vicario

Guglielmo Vicario didn't play particularly well against Eintracht Frankfurt last week, but he really sunk over the weekend against Wolves. His flailing attempts at saves doomed Tottenham to a 4-2 defeat, as the first two goals Wolves scored were almost entirely down to goalkeeping errors from Vicario - the kind that he simply cannot afford to make againt Eintracht and their standout keeper if Spurs are to advance.

This season, Vicario has done so well to keep Tottenham in games, and he is capable of some of the prettiest reflex saves in world football. Tottenham need to see that version of Vicario at the Deutsche Bank Park, because we all know very well that Hugo Ekitike and this Frankfurt attack are going to bring it big-time in front of their fans on Thursday.

ST Dominic Solanke

Although there are still segments of people who are reluctant to admit this, Dominic Solanke was a 65 million pound transfer mistake. Solanke has never been worth that kind of money, and he never will be at the age of 27. He is an albatross at the middle of the Tottenham attack, and while he is praise for being a well-rounded striker, that's another way of subtly saying that he can't score goals and doesn't do any one thing at a particularly high level.

After a disastrous performance in the first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt in which he was shown up by a much better and younger striker in Ekitike, Solanke is going to have to at least pretend like he belongs as the starting No. 9 for a team with ambitions of winning the Europa League. It's do-or-die for both Tottenham and Solanke, because only the most rose-colored optimists can sit there and say that Solanke has done enough to give them faith that he's "the guy" at striker.

CB Cristian Romero

Cristian Romero should be one of the best players on Tottenham, but after some injuries in the middle of the season, we have yet to see the best out of the Argentinian international. On paper, Romero is one of the most talented and athletic center backs in the Premier League, but he was a massive disappointment against Eintracht Frankfurt and then the loss to Wolves.

Tottenham can't win if players like Romero aren't at their best. There is too much on the line in the Europa League quarterfinals, and Romero is going to have to play smarter against Ekitike, who knows how to use a player's weaknesses against them. Romero isn't having a bad season, per se, but we haven't seen him at his best since around October. He needs to do more for Tottenham now.

After battling past AZ Alkmaar, Tottenham will defend North London in the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals against one of the Bundesliga's most consistent sides, Eintracht Frankfurt. Even with star man Omar Marmoush now at Manchester City, Eintracht still have plenty of talent to give Spurs, who are struggling in the Premier League, plenty to worry about.

I mean, if you match up these two teams and where they are at in their league tables, Tottenham are actually the underdogs here despite having more well-known players and a bigger budget. But with all that has gone into this team, an elimination would be a grave disappointment for an already under-fire Ange Postecoglou.

Here are five players to watch closely on Thursday night at Tottenham Hotspur stadium when Tottenham and Frankfurt go to battle.

Tottenham CB Cristian Romero

There aren't many center backs in the Premier League who are as good as Cristian Romero, and although things have fallen apart for Tottenham this season under Ange Postecoglou, we can't forget both how excellent Romero was in his first season with Big Ange and how good he was in the past for both Tottenham and his clubs in Serie A.

Romero is one of the best defenders in the world at making plays on the ball, whether it's winning possession defensively or even creating chances - and finishing them off. He's a well-rounded center back who can win you games, and Tottenham will need the Argentinian international to go out there and win them some games in the Europa League knockouts.

What makes Romero an even important important player to watch is the fact that he'll be tasked with marking Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike, who is an extremely fluid player off the ball and as difficult of a player as there is in German football to keep quiet.

Eintracht Frankfurt ST Hugo Ekitike

Hugo Ekitike could very well be a Tottenham transfer target at the striker position this summer, and even North London rivals Arsenal are keen on making the Frenchman their future No. 9. A summer 2025 transfer to the Premier League appears likely for Ekitike, but Tottenham won't be scouting or watching the striker with admiration this Thursday.

Their task is simply to stop Frankfurt's leading man, though there is certainly nothing simple about coping with the languid No. 9. Ekitike is a very well-rounded striker who scores and creates. He is one of the best dribblers at the position, and Tottenham are going to need all four of their defenders

Tottenham CM Rodrigo Bentancur

Against a team like Eintracht Frankfurt that loves to counter and play fast on the attacking end, Tottenham are going to need to make sure they control the midfield battle and are assured in their coverage of space off the ball when defending transitions.

So from a tactical perspective, there may not be a more important player for Tottenham than Rodrigo Bentancur, who, at his best, is a solid midfielder and Spurs' best anchoring player almost by default. Bentancur kind of fell out of favor at Juventus at the end, but he quickly latched on at Tottenham and became a key figure, though his importance did wane a bit due to injury.

This season, Bentancur has started six games for Spurs in the Europa League and has been good all-around both defensively and offensively with his ball progression. Tottenham will hope Bentancur is at his best on Thursday night when supporting the back line.

Eintracht Frankfurt AM Hugo Larsson

All eyes will be on Ekitike - and for good reason - but Eintracht Frankfurt have another young gem worth watching closely in young midfielder Hugo Larsson. He's been playing a more attacking role lately for Frankfurt, which should ring some alarm bells for a Tottenham defense that hasn't been as shutdown as it should be this season.

Larsson is an intelligent young player with a good all-around skill-set who knows how to get into space in between the defensive and midfield lines. He is the next in an impressive lineage of Frankfurt attacking midfielders, which includes Jesper Lindstrom and Daichi Kamada.

In all honesty, Larsson is the best of these three, because he has the best football IQ and the skill-set most suited to the modern game. Tottenham will have to be prepared to fight a lot of scrappy duels in their own half against Larsson, who covers a lot of ground and is very effective as a playmaker around the penalty area.

Tottenham GK Guglielmo Vicario

A healthy Guglielmo Vicario is a gift from above for Tottenham. After dominating Serie A for underdogs Empoli, Vicario has proven a lot of misguided Premier League fans wrong by stepping in and succeeding as the heir to Hugo Lloris, which was undoubtedly a very difficult task.

The margin of error in the Europa League knockouts is slim, and Tottenham have a great equalizer in Vicario. Both teams have solid, experienced European goalkeepers, and Vicario means an awful lot to Spurs. He will be called to make a couple of big saves this week, and if he can stand up to the task, he could bail Spurs out in a big way. Frankfurt love to shoot on the break, and they'll surely have a few big chances in this one, even on the road.

On Thursday evening, Tottenham Hotspur will welcome Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt to North London, for the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final showdown. It truly cannot be overstated quite how big a game - and tie - this is.

Although the win did extremely little to paper over the cracks of a dismal domestic season, Spurs at least come into the game having stopped the rot with their three points over Southampton on Sunday. They also, if looking for small positives, have Brennan Johnson and Mathys Tel coming into the game more confident than they otherwise would have been.

They will, however, be without a couple of injured players, of whom the game has come too early for. The Standard have reported that Dejan Kulusevski is "progressing well", but that Thursday evening will come too soon for him. They have also stated that the game will also come too soon for Kevin Danso, with his thigh injury picked up last month keeping him out of action.

Thursday evening's first leg to come too early for two players

In fairness, with Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven both fit, it was unlikely that Danso was going to start anyway. It would have been handy to have been able to start him against Southampton instead of Romero - with it not being ideal for the Argentine to play three games in a week. Still, he hasn't picked up an injury yet, so let's hope that Thursday is not one game too far.

As for Kulusevski, he would have had a much better chance at starting - though James Maddison did show his creativity against Southampton - albeit a much weaker opponent. The 28-year old will have the keys to the attack, the onus will be on him to create chances or even score himself. If Spurs had him and Kulusevski both in the side, they would have had more unpredictability in their attack - but it does give a player like Lucas Bergvall a huge opportunity instead.

In midweek, whilst not a full slate of fixtures – there were still a number of games being played in League One, as sides with a game in hand began to catch up on their fixtures. As a result, there was action for Tottenham Hotspur loanees. Â

Last night saw Mansfield Town hosting Leyton Orient, meaning in theory we had Matthew Craig up against fellow Spurs youngsters Josh Keeley and Jamie Donley. However, after only recently returning to action, Craig was once again not in the match day squad for this game. Meanwhile, Keeley and Donley both started the game. Â

How things played out down in League One on Tuesday evening

It was the nightmare start for Orient, whom conceded after just three minutes of the game. However, with six minutes of the first half remaining, former Spurs academy player Dilan Markanday equalised for Orient, which was enough to send the two sides into half time level pegging. Â

Then, nine minutes into the second half, the O’s took the lead, with Donley providing the assist – his first since the 28th of January. After 62 minutes, however, Mansfield got their second of the game, and we were once again all square. Â

With just over 20 minutes remaining, Richie Wellens’s side scored a third, as Donley grabbed his second assist of the game, with both coming for striker Charlie Kelman. From there, Orient were able to see the game out, and pull off a win that keeps their play off hopes just about alive. Â

Truth be told, it was not a vintage display from the Spurs loanees’ side, having just six shots all game, and the hosts having three opta defined big chances to their one. Still, an absolutely huge three points that gives them something to play for in the final five games of the season. Â

This was Keeley’s 31st game (all starts) of the League One campaign, whilst Donley made his 34th league appearance of the season, with 26 of those being starts. That is now seven assists (and nine big chances created) to go with his six goals. Â

After this win, Orient sit in 9th place in the table, with 63 points from their 41 games, five points off the play off positions. Next up is an away game against Crawley Town on Saturday, for a 15:00 BST kick off. Â

Even if Craig was available this weekend, Mansfield’s game at home to Peterborough United has been postponed because the visitors are in the final of EFL trophy. Hopefully that means he will be available for their next game – an away game against Rotherham United on Good Friday at 15:00 BST.

As we have said so many times on here recently, the fact we are between transfer windows does very little to stop the constant transfer rumours – regarding both incoming and also outgoings. Over the last few weeks, we have been very busy trying to aggregate all of the talk around those potentially coming in and out of N17. Â

We have seen Spurs linked to the likes of Bayern Munich and Germany winger Leroy Sane, as well as LOSC Lille and England midfielder Angel Gomes. Meanwhile, Cristian Romero and Rodrigo Bentancur have both been linked with a move to La Liga side Diego Simeone. Â

The latest player to be of interest to another club is goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. As per a recent report from Italian media outlet MilanLive, the Spurs number one is on a shortlist of potential replacements for Mike Maignan, should their keeper move back to PSG. They suggest a domino effect move could happen, with Gianluigi Donnarumma moving to rivals Inter Milan. Â

Italian giants shortlist Guglielmo Vicario ahead of the summer

Something to note is that Milan are trying to recruit former Spurs director of football Fabio Paratici, although a move does seem to be stalling. If the Italian does join Milan, however, that could further increase their incentive to sign Vicario, given the director will know the 28-year old from Spurs. Â

Safe to say it is paramount that Spurs keep Vicario. During his three months out on the sidelines, his absence in the side was clear for all to see. He has always been a very good shot stopper, and it is clear that he has improved when it comes to commanding his area, and coming out to claim crosses and relieve pressure on the defence. Â

As it stands, the goalkeeper has three years remaining on his existing contract in North London, so there will be little sweat over his immediate future. What is surely concerning, however, is the players reaction to any potential interest from Milan. Â

Being an Italian – any player in fairness but especially as an Italian – the idea of playing for Milan must be pretty seducing for him. Unless they win the Europa League, Spurs will have no European football next season, though as it stands neither will Milan – with the giants currently sitting in 9th place in Serie A. Â

Nevertheless, it would still be an appealing move for him, you would imagine. If that domino effect comes into play, he could be competing with Donnarumma for the Italian number one spot, whilst playing for rival Milan clubs. Â Â

Although Spurs beat Southampton 3-1 in a dead rubber game on Sunday afternoon, it would not be Tottenham Hotspur if there somehow was no drama attached to it. In stoppage time, Ange's side were awarded a penalty - which was taken by loanee and late substitute Mathys Tel, whom cooly converted to make sure of the points.

That is despite Brennan Johnson being on a hat-trick, and having won the penalty himself. So, as you can expect, there has been much decision around the decision to allow Tel to take the penalty instead of the Welshman.

Brennan Johnson speaks about not taking penalty vs Southampton

After the game, the winger was asked about the penalty, to which he responded: "It's only normal for me to want to take the penalty. There's only a certain amount of talking to do before it gets quite messy. I've been in the situation before when I've had people wanting to take the ball off me and it kind of unsettles you a little bit.

I knew the game was pretty much done but still, I didn't want to unsettle anyone or start any disagreements. So, once the decision was made, I just had to get on with it.”

Big respect to Johnson for not wanting to risk any damage to squad harmony, particularly before such a big game against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League on Thursday evening. You do feel a bit sorry for him - there are not many chances to score a hat-trick in the Premier League, and that would have been a great opportunity for him to do so.

At the same time, it is handy for Tel to have a confidence boost, ahead of, again, a huge game on Thursday evening. With Heung-Min Son and James Maddison both off the pitch, Cristian Romero had the captains armband on at the time of the penalty being awarded, and decided that Tel would take. Not sure how they were all managing to communicate, but fair play.

On Thursday evening, Spurs will play their biggest game of the season, when they welcome Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final showdown.

With Spurs having such a dismal domestic season, all the eggs have been thrown into the Europa League basket. Reports have suggested that manager Ange Postecoglou must win the competition in order to not lose his job.

Although Spurs did get their first win since February against Southampton on Sunday, the direness of the visitors meant that it did little to raise confidence for this clash within the fanbase. Many have said that if Ange's side perform like they did in the second half on Sunday, they will be turned over by their German counterparts.

Nevertheless, there is some cause for optimism. According to German journalist Carsten Schellhorn, first choice Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp is set to be unavailable for the first leg in North London on Thursday evening.

Frankfurt set to be without first choice goalkeeper on Thursday

He did state that the keeper should be back for the second leg in Germany the following Thursday, but overall it is still a positive update. It is really important that Spurs can take advantage of the game at home and have something to hold onto in the second leg.

When Frankfurt won this competition in 2022, Trapp was a huge part. He played in all 13 games, including the final - where he made the only save in the penalty shootout to help them secure the trophy.

The 34-year old has played for Frankfurt in 12 of the last 15 seasons, with a three year stint at French club Paris Saint Germain somewhere in the middle. He is a vastly experienced player, and will no doubt be a miss for the Bundesliga side on Thursday.

Back up goalkeeper Kaua Santos - who is likely to play in this game instead, has had a mixed season when he has played this year. Before this injury to Trapp last month, his last appearance was back in December, where he scored an own goal and had an error leading to a goal.

However, he has also had some good performances this season too - making 10 saves in a game against Bayern Munich and Besiktas, whilst saving a penalty in the latter game. Still, he is just 21 years old, meaning he has far less experience than someone like Trapp.

Most Spurs fans are in agreement that the squad is in need of some major surgery this summer. A 3-1 win at home to Southampton - the first team to ever be relegated with seven game weeks still to go - will have done little to ease any of those thoughts.

You would hope that the club also share this sentiment. There have been a lot of rumours flying around in the last few weeks regarding acquistions in the summer, and even outgoings. If even a small percentage of these rumours are true, we can expect quite a high squad turnover this summer.

Another player to be linked with the club - as per TBR Football - is Bayern Munich and Germany winger Leroy Sane, whose current contract with the German giants is set to expire in the summer of this year, with a new deal yet to be agreed.

Tottenham Hotspur linked with former Manchester City winger Leroy Sane

Spurs are not the only club interested in Sane, with fierce rivals Arsenal also expected to be interested in a move - with manager Mikel Arteta having worked with the player during their time at Manchester City.

In the first half of the season, it did look like Sane may be set to end his five year stint in Bavaria, but there has been more noise around an extension with a pay cut recently, with the winger enjoying his best form of the season in recent weeks.

Over the last 18 months, Sane has developed a good on pitch relationship with Spurs legend Harry Kane, particularly recently and in the first few months of the 23/24 season. The German international is also a team mate of former Spurs defender Eric Dier, with the three all playing under Sane's former City team mate Vincent Kompany.

So far this season, Sane has scored nine goals, provided four assists and created eight big chances in 1312 Bundesliga minutes, which equates to around 14.5 full games. Fairly good numbers, even taking the quality of the league into consideration.

There is little doubt that Spurs do need wide men. The issue is that Sane is not quite as dynamic as he was before the ACL injury he suffered in 2019. He is still quite fast, but not as explosive as he was when he "burst onto the scene" close to a decade ago now.

Last weekend, as well action for Spurs – who beat Southampton 3-1 in the Premier League, condemning their visitors to the earliest relegation in Premier League history – there was also action for a number of loanees. We have already covered the Championship here, League One here, and the rest of the UK here. In this piece, we will have a look at how things went for the loanees currently playing in Europe. Â

How things went for Tottenham Hotspur loanees on the continent

Over in Belgium, both Luka Vuskovic and Alfie Devine were named on the bench for KVC Westerlo, as they hosted OH Leuven in the Belgian Pro League. After a goalless first half, Leuven scored twice in the first opening 13 minutes of the second half to shock Westerlo and take a two goal lead. Â

Manager Timmy Simons responded by introducing Devine to the action on the hour mark. Two minutes later, Westerlo got one back. Then, with a quarter of an hour remaining, the Spurs loanee scored his fifth goal of the season, heading home from a corner to make it 2-2. Â

From there, neither side were able to find a winner, as the game finished 2-2. Vuskovic remained an unused sub, but it was great to see Devine on the scoresheet after a tough couple of months for him. Â

As it stands, Westerlo remain bottom of the Conference League play off round, with one point from their two games. Next up is a home game against Charleroi on Friday, for a 19:45 BST kick off. Â

In La Liga, unfortunately there was incredibly little to report on. Alejo Veliz was an unused sub for RCD Espanyol, as they pulled off an impressive 4-0 win away to Rayo Vallecano, in a game that they could have won by even more goals. This win leaves Espanyol in 16th place in the La Liga table, with 32 points from their 29 games so far, two points above the relegation zone. Â

As for Veliz himself, it is safe to say that this loan has not worked out. Out of all the Spurs players to go out on loan this season, he has probably had the least productive spell of all. He remains on 999 minutes of La Liga action to his name, with just one goal in that time – coming all the way back in August. It has not been quite as bad as the Sevilla loan last season, but not too far off. Â

Meanwhile, Bryan Gil was once again missing for Girona’s game against with an injury. In his absence, his side lost 1-0 at home to Alaves. Former Spurs players Paulo Gazzaniga and Arnaut Danjuma started the game. This defeat leaves Girona in 13th place in the table, with 34 points from their 30 games. Â

Next up for Espanyol is an away game against Celta Vigo on Saturday at 17:30 BST. Meanwhile, Girona will face Osasuna on Suday, for a 13:00 BST kick off. Â

On Sunday afternoon, at 14:00 BST, Spurs hosted Southampton for match day 31 of the 24/25 Premier League season. Coming into the game, the visitors were trying to get the win that would ensure they would not go down as statistically the worst team in Premier League season. They were also trying to avoid becoming the first team to ever get relegated on match day 31 of the season.

For the task at hand, Ange Postecoglou opted for a line up of; Vicario; Porro, Romero, Davies, Spence; Bergvall, Bentancur, Maddison; Johnson, Solanke, Son.

How it all happened at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday

The first two chances of any note for Spurs came shortly after each other. In the tenth minute, Romero had a header saved from a corner - before Bergvall had a left footed effort from inside the box saved. Then, very soon after, Kamaldeen Sulemana nearly gave the visitors the lead, but his effort from a tight angle was blocked.

However, just a couple of minutes later, Ange's side took the lead. Spence got away down the left, before cutting the ball back into the middle where Johnson was able to fire the ball into the back of the net with a fierce finish - his 10th goal in the Premier League this season.

After 26 minutes, Romero had another opportunity to score, as he again saw his header saved following a set piece - though this one was definitely a better opportunity.

With a little over ten minutes of the first half remaining, Bergvall thought he had scored his first Premier League goal, but after a very, very lengthy VAR review, the goal was disallowed, and the game remained 1-0.

Nevertheless, a few minutes later, it was two - as Johnson scored his second goal of the game. After a ball came out of the sky, Maddison flicked a lopping header towards Johnson, whom poked the ball past Aaron Ramsdale. Two for him and two for Spurs.

Just before the half time whistle, Spence went close to making it three, but his effort towards the top corner was saved. That would be that for the first half, and Spurs had a two goal lead going into the interval.

A few minutes before the hour mark, Ange looked to his bench, as Odobert and Sarr replaced Son and Bentancur. Three minutes later, Porro picked up a booking for a foul. With ten minutes remaining, Bissouma and Gray repalced Maddison and Bergvall. With three minutes left, Tel replaced Solanke.

Just as normal time was about to finish, Southampton got one back through Mateus Fernandes, to make for a tense finish.

Still, in stoppage time, Spurs were awarded a penalty - with Tel converting for his first Premier League goal. Full-time, 3-1 to Spurs. Not much more to say other than Southampton are relegated. Onto Thursday evening against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League.