Tottenham Prepares for Europa League Draw as Format Changes

Tottenham Hotspur is set to learn their opponents in the revamped UEFA Europa League when the draw occurs on Friday at 12 pm UK time.

This marks the club’s return to the competition for the first time since the 2020/21 season. The tournament has undergone a significant change in format; the old group stage of four teams has been replaced by a single 36-team league stage. Each club will face eight different teams, four at home and four away.

In this new setup, the top eight teams will advance directly to the round of 16. Meanwhile, clubs finishing from ninth to 24th will enter a knockout round play-off, with the winners of those matches progressing to the last 16.

For the draw, teams will be seeded in four pots based on their individual club coefficients. Tottenham will be placed in pot one. Each participating team will be manually drawn using physical balls. Once a club is drawn, automated software will randomly assign them two opponents from the remaining pots, designating one home and one away match.

At this stage of the competition, clubs are prohibited from facing opponents from their own country—meaning Tottenham cannot draw against Manchester United. Furthermore, teams can only compete against a maximum of two clubs from any single nation.

The qualifying matches will conclude on Thursday evening, but potential opponents are already being considered. From pot one, possible match-ups include Roma, Porto, Rangers, and Eintracht Frankfurt, among others.

The draw will commence with pot one, providing Tottenham with early knowledge of their potential opponents. Following the draw, exact match dates and times will be confirmed, with games scheduled to take place from September 25, 2024, through to January 30, 2025.