Slavia ambitions hanging by a thread

SK Slavia Praha come to White Hart Lane with their hopes of a UEFA Cup Round of 16 place still just about alive, but need a win against Tottenham Hotspur FC to progress.

• First-half goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane put Tottenham in the driving seat in the first leg before a blunder from Radek Černý allowed David Střihavka – playing his first game for Slavia since returning to Prague following a spell at English side Norwich City FC – to pull one back for the home side.

• Černý spent the majority of his career at Slavia before moving to Spurs, initially on loan, in 2005. Former Slavia trainee Tomáš Pekhart, a forward, is also at Tottenham, signing a contract in March 2006.

• Versatile central defender Marek Suchý also spent a spell on trial at Tottenham in 2006.

• The two sides already knew each other well before the first leg, with Tottenham having knocked Slavia out of the first round of the 2006/07 UEFA Cup 2-0 on aggregate. Jermaine Jenas scored the winner in the first leg in Prague while Keane sealed a second 1-0 success at White Hart Lane.

• Of the Slavia players who appeared in both of the previous matches against Tottenham many are still at the club, along with coach Karel Jarolím. Matúš Kozáčik, Lukáš Jarolím, Pavel Fořt, Stanislav Vlček, Tomáš Hrdlička, Michal Švec and Tomáš Necid have since moved on.

• Of the players that played against Slavia for Tottenham, Mido, Edgar Davids, Danny Murphy, Reto Ziegler, Calum Davenport, Hossam Ghaly, Jermain Defoe, Paul Stalteri and coach Martin Jol have since left.

• Tottenham manager Juande Ramos had also already come up against Slavia this season with his former club Sevilla FC, earning a 4-2 UEFA Champions League home win in his penultimate European game with the UEFA Cup holders before taking up his post in London.

• Slavia have now played seven games against English sides, winning one, drawing one and losing five. They have lost all three of their previous games in England without scoring.

• Slavia played Tottenham's local rivals Arsenal FC in this season's UEFA Champions League group stage, losing 7-0 in north London but drawing 0-0 in Prague.

• Tottenham have now played seven games against Czech sides, winning five, drawing one and losing one. They have won all three of their previous home games against Czech teams.

• Slavia qualified for the Round of 32 after finishing third in UEFA Champions League Group H. Tottenham finished second in UEFA Cup Group G.

• The aggregate winners will meet the victors of the tie between PSV Eindhoven and Helsingborgs IF in the Round of 16 on 6 and 12/13 March, playing the first leg at home. PSV won the first leg 2-0 in the Netherlands.

• Slavia have Matek Krajčík back after a one-match ban but David Hubáček, Ondřej Šourek and Mickaël Tavares are all within a booking of a suspension, along with Tottenham's Kevin Prince Boateng and Jermaine Jenas.

• Winter UEFA Cup registrations
Slavia: In – David Střihavka, Marek Jarolím, Jaroslav Černý.
Out – Stanislav Vlček, Michel Fernando Costa, Michal Švec, Jakub Diviš, Tomáš Jablonský, Tomáš Necid.
Tottenham: In – Gilberto, Jonathan Woodgate, Tomáš Pekhart, Jamie O'Hara.
Out – Jermain Defoe, Paul Stalteri, Anthony Gardner, Philip Ifil, Terry Dixon, Matthew Wells, Andy Barcham.