Tottenham Hotspur head to Monaco for their latest Champions League on Wednesday night but they are likely to be without up to nine injured first-teamers, with TEAMtalk predicting that Thomas Frank will make three changes to his starting XI in the Principality.
The north London side have four points from their opening two fixtures, after beating Villarreal in the opening round of games before coming from behind to draw at Bodo/Glimt last time out.
Frank’s men are hardly in what you would call dazzling form, although they are better on the road than they have been at home so far this term.
Tottenham were without skipper Cristian Romero after he tweaked an adductor injury during the warm-up of Sunday’s loss to Aston Villa, and the Argentine did not train on Tuesday ahead of the Monaco trip and is not expected to feature.
That means Kevin Danso will keep his place alongside Micky van de Ven, with Pedro Porro and Djed Spence in the full-back positions.
The latter is expected to get the nod ahead of Destiny Udogie, with the Italy international struggling with a knee issue and not expected to be risked in Monaco.
Spurs also remain without the likes of Radu Dragusin, Kota Takai and, most likely, Ben Davies in their defensive ranks.
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Midfield changes as Frank seeks spark
The centre of the park was a big problem for Tottenham against Villa, with Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur struggling to control the game after a bright start. Indeed, TEAMtalk have commented that, as a pair, they are not well suited at all and it’s expected that Frank will make changes to energise that area of the pitch.
We expect Pape Sarr and Lucas Bergvall to get the nod, with Bentancur shifted back to the bench and a position change for Xavi Simons.
Bergvall is likely to fill the attacking midfield role ahead of Palhinha and Sarr, giving Spurs a more solid and mobile base to work from.
The continued absence of the likes of James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Yves Bissouma continues to bite hard, although more so with those first two names mentioned.
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Richarlison back to lead the line
Having started on the bench against Villa, the Brazilian is expected to lead the line against Monaco, with Randal Kolo Muani only fit enough for bench duty at this stage.
Mathys Tel is not included in the Champions League squad, while Dominic Solanke continues his recovery from ankle surgery.
Simons failed to make an impact in the No.10 position against Villa and is set to fill the problem left-wing role for Frank, with Tottenham’s biggest attacking threat, Mohammed Kudus, once again on the right.
In terms of the opponents, it had been expected that Eric Dier would line up to face his former club, having spent a decade in north London. However, the former England international has a hamstring injury and will be forced to watch on from the sidelines.