Preview: Tottenham Hotspur vs Villarreal

Both recent winners of the Europa League, Tottenham Hotspur and Villarreal aim to take the first step towards Champions League glory in Tuesday's league phase opener in North London.

The Lilywhites conquered the second-tier tournament last season to return to the big time, while the visitors' fifth-placed La Liga finished sufficed for UCL football.

Match preview

Set to reap the rewards of his predecessor's hard work, Thomas Frank leads Tottenham into Champions League battle on Tuesday after Ange Postecoglou masterminded Spurs' run to Europa League supremacy last season, their first major trophy in a long and torturous 17 years.

Seventeenth place ultimately took precedence over 17 years when it came to deciding Postecoglou's future, but barring one mishap at home to Bournemouth, the early signs under ex-Brentford boss Frank are highly promising for the hosts.

Tottenham reverted to type on Saturday with their third win and third clean sheet of the Premier League season, making extremely light work of London rivals West Ham United as Pape Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Micky van de Ven all found the back of the net in a 3-0 victory.

Spurs already have one UEFA defeat next to their name this season, but they came out of their Super Cup loss to Paris Saint-Germain with a certain amount of credit, and the pre-game statistics make for pleasant reading thanks to last year's Europa League success.

Indeed, Tottenham have avoided defeat in each of their last 20 UEFA competition games played at home, while they have only failed to score in one of their last 16 continental matches - an inconsequential 1-0 loss to AZ Alkmaar in last year's Europa League last-16 first leg.

Four years before Tottenham hoisted the Europa League trophy aloft, Villarreal's penalty-shootout success over Manchester United in the 2020-21 final earned the Yellow Submarine their first-ever major honour, if we leave out a pair of Intertoto Cup triumphs.

An unforeseen Champions League semi-final appearance followed for the visitors just one year later, although they have not been back to Europe's top table since, suffering last-16 exits in the Conference League in 2023 and the Europa League in 2024.

However, thanks to Spain's high UEFA coefficient ranking, Villarreal's fifth-placed La Liga finish last season was enough to earn them a ticket back to the Champions League, but Marcelino's men have started to lose their way at an inopportune time.

The Yellow Submarine claimed back-to-back wins over Real Oviedo and Girona at the start of the 2025-26 season, but they have taken just one point from the most recent six on offer, drawing with Celta Vigo before a 2-0 loss to Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

To make matters worse, Villarreal have remarkably never beaten an English team in the Champions League - losing eight and drawing six of their previous 14 such meetings - although Spurs have only ever won two of their previous 14 UEFA club matches versus Spanish sides.

Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions):

Villarreal form (all competitions):

Team News

Tottenham crushed West Ham at the weekend despite missing record signing Dominic Solanke, who is still nursing an ankle injury and is a major doubt for the visit of Villarreal, where he will likely only make the bench even if he is passed fit.

Guaranteed absentees for the Lilywhites are Yves Bissouma, Kota Takai, Dejan Kulusevski, Radu Dragusin and James Maddison - all of whom are both injured and ineligible after being left out of Frank's Champions League squad - while Mathys Tel did not make the cut either owing to Spurs' lack of home-grown players.

The latter led the line against West Ham, but his absence will allow either Richarlison or new signing Randal Kolo Muani to spearhead the charge on Tuesday, where Xavi Simons should retain his place on the left wing after banking an assist on his Spurs debut at the weekend.

Regarding Villarreal's injury situation, Logan Costa and Pau Cabanes are both on the long road to recovery from ACL issues, while ex-Manchester United defender Willy Kambwala is expected to remain out until December with a hamstring problem.

Gerard Moreno's own hamstring issue means that the experienced striker is also touch-and-go, so ex-Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe - who has just been voted the La Liga Player of the Month for August - could continue up front on his return to the English capital.

Speaking of returning North Londoners, Juan Foyth should start at the back against his old employers, while loanee Manor Solomon is eligible to face his parent club but will likely be kept in reserve.

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:

Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Sarr, Bentancur, Bergvall; Kudus, Richarlison, Simons

Villarreal possible starting lineup:

Junior; Mourino, Foyth, Veiga, Cardona; Pepe, Gueye, Parejo, Moleiro; Perez, Mikautadze

We say: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Villarreal

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Villarreal's atrocious record against English clubs in the Champions League and Spurs' pitiful performances vs. Spanish teams adds another layer of intrigue to this battle, where the hosts have our vote to defy their old La Liga struggles.

Frank's men are finding goals from all across the squad right now, and even with a reduced selection, the Europa League winners can take down a Villarreal side on a slight downward trajectory.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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