Tottenham could receive seven boosts and three blows in Atletico Madrid Champions League first leg

Tottenham Hotspur will be at risk of suffering a new triple selection blow when they face Atletico Madrid in Tuesday's Champions League last-16 first leg.

Igor Tudor's men take a welcome break from their Premier League relegation dogfight to square up to Diego Simeone's side at the Wanda Metropolitano, having defied their domestic difficulties to finish in fourth place in the league phase.

Spurs strode to 2-0 victories over Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt to advance straight to the last 16 of the competition, but the Europa League holders enter the first leg on a dire run of form.

Thursday's 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace marked the Lilywhites' fifth loss on the spin in all competitions, and third in a row under Tudor, whose future is already being called into question after just a few weeks.

The Croatian will nevertheless take charge of Tuesday's first leg at least, but he will continue to work without a surfeit of players in James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Lucas Bergvall, Ben Davies, Wilson Odobert, Mohammed Kudus, Rodrigo Bentancur and Destiny Udogie.

Tudor will be boosted by the return of Cristian Romero from suspension, while Djed Spence and Radu Dragusin trained on Monday following knocks, but Spurs could suffer a new triple blow in the Spanish capital.

Tottenham trio walking disciplinary tightrope for Atletico Madrid clash

All of Joao Palhinha, Richarlison and Randal Kolo Muani have already been booked twice in the Champions League, and the trio will miss the second leg at home on March 18 if they are cautioned again on Tuesday.

Three bookings is enough to incur a one-match ban in European competition, and yellow cards not resulting in a suspension are not wiped until completion of the quarter-finals.

Should Richarlison and Kolo Muani be ruled out of the second leg, Tottenham at least have Mathys Tel and Dominic Solanke available as cover, while Conor Gallagher and Pape Sarr are all alternatives to Palhinha.

However, only one member of the at-risk trio has been predicted to start the first leg, where no fewer than seven Atletico players will be walking a disciplinary tightrope.

Seven Atletico Madrid players could miss Tottenham second leg

Simeone's side have always had a reputation for playing on the edge, and the hosts have seven players on two yellow cards ahead of the visit of Tottenham.

Thiago Almada, Pablo Barrios, Robin Le Normand, Marc Pubill, Giuliano Simeone, Marcos Llorente and former Tottenham defender Clement Lenglet will all sit out the return fixture if they enter the book on home soil.

In addition, head coach Simeone is at risk of suspension himself having also received two yellow cards in the league phase, during which he was sent off in Atletico's first fixture against Liverpool.

On the playing side alone, a total of 10 players across both teams could miss the second leg due to suspension, although Atletico are certainly at risk of coming off much worse in that regard.