Asteras v Tottenham background

Asteras Tripolis FC's unbeaten home record may face its sternest test yet as the Greek side play host to Tottenham Hotspur FC in UEFA Europa League Group C.

Form guide
• The 5-1 loss at Spurs last time out was Asteras's heaviest away defeat in European competition – they are still waiting for their first European victory on the road.

• Asteras have yet to lose a home match in three seasons in European club competition; their continental home record is W4 D3, with those four wins – all by two-goal margins – coming in the four most recent fixtures.

• Spurs have yet to win in three games in Greece (D2 L1) but are unbeaten in their last three European away contests (W1 D2).

Trivia and links
• Spurs' Vlad Chiricheş and Asteras's Dorin Goian have played together for Romania.

• Asteras are one of only four teams in the group stage who started out in the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round along with FC Krasnodar, FC Dinamo Minsk and HNK Rijeka. This is their tenth European game this season, making this comfortably the longest of their three continental campaigns.

• The clubs have a former goalkeeper in common; Márton Fülöp was on Spurs' books from 2004 to 2007 and represented Asteras from 2012 to 2013.

The coaches
• Asteras put their faith in coach Staikos Vergetis in 2013, with the 38-year-old renowned as a communicator – not least since he is fluent in several languages and has worked for the club as an interpreter, as well as a youth coach, match analyst and assistant coach. Born in Tripoli, he was denied his dream of a playing career by a serious knee injury.

• Former Argentina defender Mauricio Pochettino took charge of Tottenham in the summer after a successful first season in England at Southampton FC. A Copa del Rey winner in both of his spells at RCD Espanyol, he also played for Paris Saint-Germain and FC Girondins de Bordeaux but returned to the Barcelona club for his first coaching role in 2009.