Key events
37 min: âThe difference between the top, top teams is the mental side,â points out Hoddle on commentary. He is referring to Tottenhamâs famous inconsistency.
36 min: Now Kulusevski hits the post! Son blazes over from the rebound! This really is a sensational game.
Goal! 34 min: Tottenham 2-1 Roma (Johnson)
Cracking goal. Spurs counter after Dybala gives it away in an advanced area. Kulusevski is released by an excellent pass by Sarr down the left. He collects it and promptly has Hummels on toast as he sprints to the byline. The Sweden international picks out a brilliant low cross to the near post, where Johnson has timed his run perfectly, and tucks his finish inside the near post. Spurs are BACK!
30 min: Kulusevski and Porro link on the Spurs right. Theyâve woken up again, but the way they surrendered the initiative after going 1-0 up was very ⦠no, I wonât say it.
28 min: Now Sarr pounces on a Roma mistake. He strides into the penalty area and smacks a low shot that is gathered cleanly by Svilar. This is a helluva match.
27 min: Dybala is on the move again. Spurs are all over the shop in defence. The Argentinian moves into the penalty area, cuts inside and shoots: Forster makes an excellent low save.
26 min: Blimey! Spurs are denied a second in dramatic fashion! A Johnson effort is blocked on the line, desperately, by a Roma defender. Thereâs another follow up effort but Roma manage to get it out for a corner. The crowd are wailing. This is a brilliant game and a tremendous atmosphere.
Disallowed goal for Roma’s El Shaarawy!
Wowzers. What a goal. But is he offside? Yes he is. It is a delightful flick over the last defender by Dybala. El Shaarawy volleys it unerringly into the far corner, a goal reminiscent of Kylian Mbappéâs cracker in the World Cup final in 2022. But the winger is adjudged offside by the VAR.
Goal! 20 min: Tottenham 1-1 Roma (Ndicka)
Dybala strokes over a free-kick after a needless foul from Tottenham â Ndicka gets up and deflects the ball into the roof of the net off his shoulder! Super delivery, and a good header, even if it included a slice of luck.
17 min: A warning for Tottenham! Celik plays a low ball in from wide out on the Roma right. Dybala nearly nicks it away from Forster at the near post. But the goalie does well. Spurs cough up possession again though, almost immediately, as they try to play out from the back. A bit careless.
16 min: Johnson breaks down the right. He takes a good first touch and cuts inside. But then crosses without looking for a target and there is too much on it.
14 min: Spurs have quietened down from an attacking point of view since that high-octane start. Dybala fancies lobbing Forster from halfway. He tries it, but itâs a poor effort, much to the displeasure of Dovbyk, who was making a pacy run down the middle for the visitors.
12 min: Roma win a corner. Itâs floated to Angelino on the edge of the box. He fluffs his attempted volley completely and the ball ends up back with Dybala, who took the corner. âIâve seen some one-twos in my time but nothing like that,â says Glenn Hoddle.
The Son penalty.
8 min: All hands on deck for Romaâs defenders and it looks like they are in for a long night. Kulusevski this time is bearing down on a back-tracking opponents. But they manage to clear their lines.
Goal! 5 min: Tottenham 1-0 Roma (Son penalty)
Boom! A lovely penalty struck sweetly into the net with the goalie going the wrong way.
Penalty for Spurs.
There it is.
3 min: A lovely incisive move from Spurs. Hummels appears to catch Sarr in the penalty area after the ball is cut back from the hostsâ right. It looks like a foul at first glance ⦠but the referee isnât having it. However, after a long VAR check, the ref will take a look on the telly. I think this is a penalty.
2 min: Tottenham stroke the ball around a bit to start. Two banks of Roma defenders are camped in their penalty area.
First half kick-off!
Here we go.
The teams are out. Postecoglou and Ranieri exchange a few friendly words on the sideline. I couldnât think of a time Spurs had played Roma, and indeed, this is the first competitive meeting between the sides.
On pundit duty, Peter Crouch predicts a âreasonably comfortableâ win for Spurs.
âYou need to move on quickly,â Postecoglou tells TNT Sports of that win at City. âIt was a good day for us. We played well, and you need to against the best in the business. Itâs a different challenge tonight. And itâll be a good challenge.
Will Roma have a new manager bounce? âIt will be a tough game. Theyâve had a difficult start to the season. Europe is a bit of an escape from that for all clubs, a chance to kickstart your season ⦠Claudioâs come in, they lost against Napoli: tonight will be a tough game.â
And finally on Fraser Forster: âHeâs been around a long time and heâs a big part of the club. Heâs already played in the Europa League this season so heâs not going in cold. Heâll do well.â
Thank you to Mats Hummels for reminding me: this is a crucial game for Romaâs European hopes:
âThis game is incredibly important for us,â he said. âItâs possibly our last chance if we want to finish in the top eight but we need points anyway to reach the next round and turn things around for our team and our club. Itâs a very difficult game but itâs also a big chance. Weâre playing a very strong team but we can show weâre able to play at a much higher level.â
Bryan Cristante, on the bench for Roma tonight, is the player who swung that England v Italy Euro 2020 final in the Azzurriâs direction. In my opinion.
Chelsea have beaten Heidenheim 2-0 in the Europa Conference League.
As for the Europa League table, Spurs sit eighth as we go to press.
Roma are 21st out of 36.
Rodrigo Bentancurâs ban applies to domestic matches only, by the way:
David Hytner
Guglielmo Vicario has had surgery to repair an ankle fracture that he sustained in Tottenhamâs 4-0 Premier League win at Manchester City on Saturday. The news has rocked the club so soon after such a morale-boosting result and it will deprive them of one of their key players and leaders at a busy time of the season.
Isnât it lovely to reminisce about those pre-Brexit days when Ranieri led Leicester to the Premier League title?
But that was then, and this is now, and all that.
Will Unwin has Manchester United v Bodø/Glimt right here:
Four changes for Tottenham then, with Forster in nets, while Gray, Bentancur and Johnson also come in.
Itâs a first start for Mats Hummels among three changes for Roma: Paulo Dybala also comes back into the side.
Team news
Tottenham (4-3-3): Forster; Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Gray; Sarr, Bentancur, Johnson; Kulusevski, Solanke, Son (capt.). Substitutes: Austin, Whiteman, Bissouma, Udogie, Maddison, Bergvall, Werner, Olusesi, Williams-Barnet, Hardy, King.
Roma (3-4-2-1): Svilar, Mancini, Hummels, Ndicka; Celik, Kone, Paredes, Angelino; Dybala, El Shaarawy; Dovbyk. Substitutes: Marin, Ryan, Cristante, Pellegrini, Abdulhamid, Soule, Le Fee, Baldanzi, Saelemaekers, Zalewski, Pisilli, Sangare.
Preamble
Ange Postecoglou said this is âa really pivotal part of the seasonâ. He was speaking before his Tottenham players opened an industrial-sized can of whup-ass for Manchester City at the Etihad last Saturday, so hats off to him, the pivot has initially been positive.
But Spurs have eight more matches to squeeze in before Christmas, starting with Roma this evening, and such a congested spell will provide a stern test for Project Postecoglou and Ange-ball. For every 4-0 thrashing of the Premier League champions there seems to be a shock defeat by the likes of Crystal Palace or Ipswich, so the jury remains out on Tottenhamâs long-term prospects under the Greek-Australian.
Whatever happens tonight should be fun, though, because Claudio Ranieri is back in charge of Roma for the third time in his career. The 73-year-oldâs first match in charge as caretaker manager was a 1-0 defeat by Napoli last Sunday. Can the wily old fox derail Angeâs festive plans? Weâre about to find out.
Kick-off: 8pm UK