Spurs must be bold at home to take control of Europa League semi-final before difficult trip to Arctic Circle
Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham face Bodo/Glimt in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday
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Your matchday briefing on Tottenham, featuring team news and expert analysis from Dan Kilpatrick
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With Tottenham's season and surely his job on the line, Ange Postecoglou is likely to lean on what he knows when setting up his team against Bodo/Glimt tonight.
Which is just as well, because if there was ever a time to take the game to the opponents and try to run up a big score, it is against the depleted Norwegians in the Europa League semi-final first leg.
Spurs' win away at Eintracht Frankfurt in their quarter-finals was a gritty, committed display, which ended with a backs-to-the-wall rearguard from a Postecoglou team playing five defenders and aiming to run down the clock.
The performance could scarcely have been more opposing to the ideals set out by Postecoglou when he joined the club - effectively to keep attacking, regardless of the state of the game - but then most of Spurs' most significant victories in the second half of this miserable season have been that way.
Spurs produced a gritty display to win away at Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals
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A 2-1 win over Brentford and the surprise 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final were also examples of Postecoglou's side grinding out a result, while the defeat of Manchester United was hardly free-flowing.
The visit of Bodo/Glimt calls for something quite different and a return to the gung-ho principles on which Postecoglou built his reputation.
As the Australian acknowledged on Wednesday, it would be reckless to "underestimate" Bodo/Glimt given their progress to this stage and previous European scalps, but it is not disrespectful to acknowledge that they should be much more threatening in the decider in the Arctic Circle next week, leaving Spurs under pressure to make the most of home advantage.
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The visitors will be missing three players to suspension in north London; influential captain Patrick Berg (whose father, grandfather, great uncle and two uncles also played for Bodo/Glimt); his midfield partner Hakon Evjen; and back-up striker Andreas Helmersen are all banned. Winger Ole Blomberg, meanwhile, missed their last match with an injury is a doubt for Thursday, along with key centre-half Odin Bjortuft.
The upshot is that a patched-up Bodo/Glimt could be missing up to five key players against a Spurs side for whom captain Heung-min Son is the only key absentee.
With their suspended trio set to be available again next week, Bodo/Glimt will be stronger in the second leg but, more significantly, it will be an entirely different contest on their artificial pitch.
Bodo/Glimt beat Lazio on penalties in the quarter-finals
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"It's a big difference between artificial and grass in many ways but the main key is that the ball goes so fast," said Bjortuft. "It may be harder to turn and everything for players that are not used to it."
Bodo/Glimt’s previously scalps at Aspmyra include a 6-1 drubbing of Jose Mourinho's Roma, as well as a 2-0 win over Postgecoglou's Celtic in February 2022.
They beat Lazio 2-0 at home in the quarter-final first leg and were unlucky not to score more in a game they dominated against the Serie A side, and they will be confident of overturning most scorelines in such unique conditions.
Spurs' win in Frankfurt was impressive but their away form in Europe this season has otherwise been patchy, including a 1-0 loss at AZ Alkmaar in the last 16.
Everything suggests the two games are likely to be contrasting affairs, even down to the weather; 25 degree heat in London should suit Spurs more than the visitors, who are still dealing with chilly conditions at the start of spring.
With UEFA's decision to scrap away goals, there is even more incentive for Spurs to revert to an attacking, risky approach, in the hope of putting themselves in a position of strength for the decider.
"I think you try and do that anyway," Postecoglou said. "Playing at home in Europe for every club has its advantages, and you want to try to take that advantage. Bodo away is a difficult challenge."
Postecoglou is aiming to put their miserable Premier League form to one side and build on the way Spurs' played in the first leg against Frankfurt, 1-1 draw in north London which left the head coach feeling deserted by "the football gods".
Spurs were the better side but could not convert their dominance into goals after levelling the game midway through the first half, and failing to establish a first-leg lead against Bodo/Glimt may prove more costly.
"I think tomorrow night what's really important is that we put in another dominant performance," Postecoglou said. "Hopefully if we create as many chances, it's time they go in rather than hitting crossbars and so forth."
Spurs' hopes of being more clinical have been dealt a blow by the absence of Son, who remains sidelined with a foot complaint, with Mathys Tel, described by James Maddison on Wednesday as "a goalscorer", set to deputise for the South Korean again.
Postecoglou has also called on Spurs' fans to play their part tonight, predicting a "fantastic atmosphere", although he played down the prospect of his side running up a big lead in the first leg, instead predicting two tight matches.
"But I don't think you just go into tomorrow night thinking you're going to kill off the tie then," he said. "I think semi-finals for the most part tend to be pretty tight. And I expect that tomorrow night."
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