LASK vs Tottenham: UEFA Europa League background, form guide, previous meetings

Defeated at home by Antwerp last time out, LASK may need to win at home to Tottenham Hotspur to keep alive their hopes of further progress from Group J, whereas their English visitors require just a point to clinch a place in the round of 32.

• Antwerp and Tottenham, who meet in north London on Matchday 6, jointly lead the group standings on nine points, three ahead of LASK, with Ludogorets out of contention after losing all four matches, including the last two to Spurs (1-3 h, 0-4 a). The Austrian side also have an inferior head-to-head record against Antwerp, having beaten them 1-0 away but lost the Matchday 4 return 0-2 in Linz.

Previous meetings

Highlights: Tottenham 3-0 LASK

• The clubs' first meeting in UEFA competition took place in London on Group J's opening night and proved to be a positive one for Tottenham, who cruised to a 3-0 home win with Lucas Moura and Heung-Min Son both on the scoresheet.

• LASK have been defeated in all three of their matches against Premier League sides, having also lost home (0-5) and away (1-2) to Manchester United in last season's UEFA Europa League round of 16. The first-leg defeat in Linz remains their heaviest at home in European competition.

• Tottenham are now unbeaten in five matches against Austrian opponents (W4 D1), though this is their first visit to Austria in 29 years, when they defeated second-tier Stockerau 1-0 in the first leg of the 1991/92 European Cup Winners' Cup preliminary round. They returned to the country in the next round – to the neutral venue of Linz – to face Croatian side Hajduk Split, losing 1-0 but winning the return leg 2-0.

Form guide
LASK
• Fourth in the 2019/20 Austrian Bundesliga, LASK enjoyed the longest and most successful European run in their history last season, stretching from the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League to the UEFA Europa League round of 16.

• LASK made their debut in the UEFA Europa League group stage last term, topping a group containing three European stalwarts in Sporting CP, PSV Eindhoven and Rosenborg before overcoming AZ Alkmaar in the round of 32 in what was the club's first experience of springtime European football. Subsequently eliminated by Manchester United, they are back in the group stage this term following big qualifying wins against DAC Dunajská Streda (7-0 h) and, in the play-offs, Sporting (4-1 a). Both were club record wins in this competition.

• The team from the Danube city have won nine of their 12 European home games over the past three seasons, scoring 30 goals in the process. They recorded three home wins out of three in last season's group stage and made it four out of four at this juncture of the competition with a 4-3 victory against Ludogorets on Matchday 2 before succumbing to Antwerp.

Tottenham
• Tottenham finished outside the top four of the Premier League for the first time in five seasons in 2019/20, their final position of sixth ending a four-season run in the UEFA Champions League that had taken them into the final in 2018/19 and to the round of 16 last season, where they were eliminated by RB Leipzig (0-1 h, 0-3 a).

• Spurs' 2020/21 European campaign began at an earlier stage than in any previous season, but José Mourinho's side came through qualifying ties away to Lokomotiv Plovdiv (2-1) and Shkëndija (3-1) before beating Maccabi Haifa 7-2 at home in the play-offs to take the club into the UEFA Europa League group stage for the sixth time. Having failed to make further progress in 2011/12, the two-time UEFA Cup winners have qualified for the round of 32 in each of their last four group participations, most recently in 2015/16 when they reached the last 16.

• Tottenham's away record in the UEFA Europa League group stage is W7 D6 L4, though their Matchday 3 win at Ludogorets was only their second in the last six matches (D1 L3).

Links and trivia
• Tottenham's Steven Bergwijn played in PSV Eindhoven's 0-0 home draw against LASK in last season's group stage.

• Spurs manager Mourinho's only experience of the UEFA Europa League prior to this season was in 2016/17, when his Manchester United side lifted the trophy. His one season managing in the UEFA Cup also ended in glory as he steered Porto to victory in 2002/03.

• Tottenham's sixth appearance in the UEFA Europa League group stage is a record for an English club. They became the first Premier League side to chalk up 50 matches in the competition proper on Matchday 2.

• Spurs are one of six former UEFA Cup winners in this season's UEFA Europa League group stage – along with Bayer Leverkusen (Group C), PSV Eindhoven (E), Napoli (F), CSKA Moskva and Feyenoord (both K).