Tottenham Hotspur will look to post their first UEFA Europa League Group A victory as Shamrock Rovers play their first competitive game in England in well over 50 years.
The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition.
Tottenham Hotspur record in four games against Irish sides reads W3 D1 L0 (W2 D0 L0 at home).
They have won their last three games against Irish clubs without conceding since drawing 1-1 at Dundalk FC in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1981, and have never conceded a goal against Irish opponents at White Hart Lane.
Shamrock Rovers have not met an English side in a competitive European game since they became the first Irish side to feature in the European Champion Clubs’ Cup in 1957/58. They lost 6-0 at home against Manchester United FC on their European debut and lost the return fixture 3-2 against the Busby Babes, so many of whom would lose their lives that season in the Munich air crash.
Tottenham Hotspur have not scored in their last three European home games, recording two 0-0 draws and a 1-0 loss against Real Madrid CF in last season’s UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
Prior to their 2-1 extra-time win against FK Partizan in this season’s UEFA Europa League play-offs, Rovers had not scored in three European fixtures on the road.
Shamrock Rovers‘ 3-0 loss to FC Rubin Kazan on matchday one was their heaviest home defeat in the UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League.