Tottenham vs Bodo/Glimt predictions: Spurs can edge entertaining first leg
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- Spurs were thrashed 5-1 at Liverpool on Sunday
- Bodo/Glimt have lost all three of their knockout round away legs
- Recommended bet: Tottenham to win and both teams to score
Tottenham have been handed a gilt-edged opportunity to salvage a dismal season by reaching the Europa League final, though they are far too inconsistent to be able to take Bodo/Glimt for granted in the first leg of their semi-final in London.
Team news
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Spurs captain Heung-Min Son is hoping to be fit after missing three games though coach Ange Postecoglou appeared to suggest the South Korean is more likely to be fit for the return leg.
Rodrigo Bentancur was given a rest at Liverpool on Sunday and should come back into the frame.
Bodo/Glimt, meanwhile, have been rocked by an injury to key central defender Odin Bjortuft, who tweaked his groin in the weekend win over KFUM in the Eliteserien.
Bodo boss Kjetil Knutsen is already having to plan without the suspended trio of midfielders Patrick Berg and Hakon Evjen and striker Andreas Helmersen. Right-back Daniel Bassi and winger Ole Blomberg are also doubts.
The stats
Tottenham have won only three of their last 12 matches in all competitions.
Spurs have won four and drawn two of their six home ties in the Europa League.
Bodo/Glimt have won only one of seven away ties in this year's Europa League.
Both teams have scored in 11 of their 14 ties.
Seven-goal Kasper Hogh is the joint top scorer in the competition.
Prediction
Tottenham fans are already planning their trips to Bilbao next month so confident they are of reaching the Europa League final.
And despite a miserable domestic season of terrible form, injuries galore, a wave of protest against the club's owner and an impending bottom-half finish in the Premier League, you can understand their optimism.
A double-headed semi-final against Bodo/Glimt is not quite the golden ticket. The Norwegians, after all, beat Lazio in the last eight.
What Spurs know, however, is given their atrocious away record and form on plastic pitches - remember the struggle at non-league Tamworth in the FA Cup in January - they will want this tie all but over by the time they fly into the Arctic Circle next week.
Spurs make no interest at heavy odds-on to win but appeal more to win a game in which both sides score.
Bodo are goalscorers. They have found the net in each of their last six away games in the Europa League, losing their last three - at Twente, Olympiakos and Lazio - by 2-1 scorelines.
They had also been beaten 3-2 at Manchester United in the group stage.
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