Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham's Europa League chances boosted by three round of 16 fixtures

Tottenham fans will be praying that the bookmakers are indeed right when it comes to the team that holds aloft the Europa League trophy in Bilbao come May. Ange Postecoglou's side are currently the favourites to triumph in the final at San Mames Stadium on Wednesday, May 21.

While that is certainly no guarantee that Tottenham will go on and win the final and end their long trophy drought in the process, many do fancy them to come out on top in UEFA's second club competition. However, it will be far from straightforward for Spurs as they do have some very tricky games on the calendar if they are progress through each knockout round.

First up is a two-legged tie against AZ Alkmaar, with the first leg taking place at the Eredivisie side's AFAS Stadion home. The sides have already met in the competition this season and it was Tottenham who won the league phase fixture following a second-half Richarlison penalty.

Should Spurs defeat AZ over two games, they will then come up against the winner of the round of 16 tie between Ajax and Eintracht Frankfurt. As the first leg is at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in early April, we could well see a repeat of the team's late heroics in the Champions League semi-final back in 2019 if it is to be another trip to Amsterdam.

If Tottenham do advance to the final four then they will take on one of Bodo/Glimt, Olympiacos, Viktoria Plzen or Lazio in early May for a place in the final. Lazio, who topped the 36-team league phase table with 19 points from a possible 24, are one of the favourites to win the competition after a strong season to date under Marco Baroni.

In terms of the club's towards the top of the bookmakers' list of potential Europa League winners, Tottenham lead the way and they are followed by Athletic Bilbao and Manchester United. Lazio are then followed by Real Sociedad, Lyon, Eintracht Frankfurt and Roma.

What is going to help Tottenham's chances of winning the Europa League trophy is that two of the aforementioned clubs will definitely exit the competition at the round of 16 stage. Friday's draw in Switzerland has seen Real Sociedad and Manchester United paired together, with Roma and Athletic Bilbao also a huge game at such an early stage of the knockout rounds.

Another big team will also depart in the round of 16 with one of Ajax or Eintracht Frankfurt set to bid farewell in March. Certainly something that could help Tottenham's chances with a few notable sides set to be knocked out, Postecoglou's team cannot underestimate AZ Alkmaar as the Dutch outfit displayed over two legs just what they can do after getting the better of Galatasaray 6-3 on aggregate.

Tottenham beat AZ back in October as Richarlison's strike proved to be the difference between the sides on that evening at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. AZ will again make life difficult for Spurs to progress and Postecoglou's team will have to be at their best if they want to negotiate the round of 16 stage and advance all the way to the final.

Discussing the futures of Tottenham's bright young stars & what changes Ange Postecoglou should make for Ipswich - click here to listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham

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