Tottenham will be looking to secure top spot in Group J with victory over leaders Royal Antwerp in their final group stage match on Thursday.
Jose Mourinho’s side booked their place in the knockout stages of the Europa League with a 3-3 draw against LASK last week, but Spurs must beat the Belgian’s in order to leapfrog them in the table.
The Tottenham boss has made wholesale changes for the majority of their European matches this term, and with Crystal Palace on Sunday in mind, is expected to continue that trend at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
However, Mourinho told Football.London that he’ll be without Serge Aurier and Erik Lamela, whilst midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, whose already featured 19 times in all competitions for Spurs this season, will be rested.
He said: “Serge will miss the game yes because he had that problem before Arsenal. He had a reaction from the game. Pierre, no problems, just the fact that he couldn’t play again. Now is his time, because we always try to give a rest to some players.
“Erik came out after the training cameras went off. I have nothing to hide. He was in the gym and then came out on to the pitches. We have lots of games coming up and in January and hopefully Lamela will be back for that.”
Whilst Tottenham will desperately need Aurier on Sunday – especially with Wilfried Zaha in excellent form, this does appear like the perfect opportunity to rest Hojbjerg, especially ahead of the hectic Christmas schedule.