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Tottenham v Anderlecht background

Tottenham beat Anderlecht on penalties to win the 1984 UEFA Cup final, but they are yet to defeat the Brussels club in 90 minutes as the teams meet for the fifth time.

Anderlecht's Youri Tielemans gets away from Tottenham defender Ben Davies on matchday three
Anderlecht's Youri Tielemans gets away from Tottenham defender Ben Davies on matchday three ©AFP/Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur FC will look to return to the top two in UEFA Europa League Group J by securing a first win in normal time in their fifth meeting with RSC Anderlecht.

Previous meetings
• Stefano Okaka's goal completed the turnaround as Anderlecht recovered from 1-0 down to defeat Spurs 2-1 on 22 October.

• The clubs first met in the 1984 UEFA Cup final, Keith Burkinshaw's Spurs beating Paul Van Himst's Anderlecht 4-3 on penalties at White Hart Lane after a pair of 1-1 draws.

• The sides for the London leg of that final on 23 May 1984 were:
Tottenham: Parks, Thomas, Hughton, Roberts, Miller (Dick 77), Mabbutt (Ardiles 73), Hazard, Archibald, Falco, Stevens, Galvin.
Anderlecht: Munaron, Hofkens, Grün, De Greef, Olsen, De Groote, Arnesen (Gudjohnsen 77), Vandereycken, Scifo, Czerniatynski (Brylle 103), Vercauteren.

• More recently, the teams drew 1-1 for a third time in a 2007/08 UEFA Cup group stage fixture in Brussels. Ariël Jacobs was in charge of Anderlecht while Juande Ramos was Spurs boss.

• The lineups for that game on 6 December 2007 were:
Anderlecht: Zítka, Wasilewski, Juhász, Van Damme, Deschacht, Hassan, Biglia, Polák, Goor, Mpenza (Baseggio 72), Frutos (Théréau 55).
Tottenham: Robinson, Chimbonda, Dawson, Zokora, Young-Pyo (Stalteri 81), Lennon, Jenas, Huddlestone, Malbranque, Keane (Berbatov 59), Bent (Defoe 72).

• Spurs' seven games against Belgian sides have ended W2 D3 L2 (W2 D1 L0 at home).

• Anderlecht's 31 games against English clubs have ended W7 D5 L19; they have yet to win in 14 games in England: W0 D2 L12.

Form guide
• Spurs are unbeaten in six European home fixtures (W4 D2) since a 3-1 loss to SL Benfica in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League round of 16.

• Anderlecht are without an away win in 12 European trips (D6 L6) since a 6-0 defeat of FK Ekranas in the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.

• In seven previous UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League campaigns, Tottenham have failed to reach the round of 32 just once – in 2011/12.

• Anderlecht advanced to the round of 32 in all four of their previous UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns, most recently in 2011/12.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Brussels to London is around 320km.

• Spurs have plenty of Belgian players: defenders Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen, and midfielders Mousa Dembélé and Nacer Chadli.

• Anderlecht's Anthony Vanden Borre and Okaka were on loan at Portsmouth FC and Fulham FC respectively in 2009/10.

The coaches
• Mauricio Pochettino has been manager of Tottenham since summer 2014, the former RCD Espanyol and Paris Saint-Germain defender brought to London after an impressive 18 months at Southampton FC. He was capped 20 times by Argentina, featuring at the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals.

• Previously assistant coach, former Albanian international Besnik Hasi assumed sole command at Anderlecht in 2014. Hasi's playing career took off after he moved to Belgium in 1994, the midfielder winning a title with KRC Genk and another with Anderlecht, where he returned after hanging up his boots at Cercle Brugge KSV.

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