Tottenham Hotspur are preparing for a much-anticipated return to the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night, with Thomas Frank facing a significant task in selecting his starting XI. Spurs are set to face Villarreal at 8pm on Tuesday night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, following their Europa League victory last season, as they aim to secure four wins from five under Frank's early leadership.
The Lilywhites triumphed over Manchester United 1-0 in the Europa League final earlier in May, securing their first trophy in 17 years. Now, new manager Frank aims to surpass Ange Postecoglou and propel Spurs to the peak of European glory in the Champions League. However, the Danish boss faces a selection dilemma ahead of the campaign's opening game, with several key players absent. Spurs defeated London rivals West Ham United 3-0 at the weekend, courtesy of second-half goals from Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Micky van de Ven.
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A Tomas Soucek red card in the 54th minute aided the visitors' quest for victory, but Frank had issues to address even before the match started. During Spurs' 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth prior to the international break, Dominic Solanke was omitted from the matchday squad due to an ankle problem, as confirmed by the manager.
It appears he was unable to recover from the issue, as Frank informed the media ahead of the trip to the London Stadium that he would not be available. He said: "Everyone returned from international duty well. Always positive, very happy about that. Dom will not be available still, I don't expect it to be too long but he will not be available for this game.
"I think right now we are doing everything we can – the medical team - to get on top of it and that's what we're focusing on. I get a feeling he is not too far away, but he's just fallen short for this week."
This means Solanke will now be racing against time to feature in his debut Champions League appearance for Tottenham, but whilst Frank believes he isn't "too far away," Villarreal may prove too early for the English forward.
Radu Dragusin, Dejan Kulusevski, and James Maddison remain sidelined for the foreseeable future with serious injuries, leaving Frank with limited attacking choices. Xavi Simons was handed his debut for the Lilywhites on Saturday and impressed, delivering the cross for the side's opening goal before being subbed on the 71st minute for Richarlison.
He was positioned on the left wing to make room for 19-year-old Bergvall, who justified his manager's faith in selecting him for the match by scoring and creating a goal to guide the team to triumph. Whilst Simons is better suited to a central attacking midfield role, Bergvall excelled in this position on Saturday and appears to have done sufficient to earn the starting berth on Tuesday evening.
Richarlison and Mathys Tel appear to be Frank's current striking options - with Solanke sidelined for now - and both were given game time against West Ham, with Tel being preferred over the Brazilian. However, the Frenchman isn't in Spurs' squad for the Champions League, so it is likely Richarlison will reclaim this starting spot without much of a struggle.
Sarr and Mohamed Kudus seem to be managing the right-hand side well, with Pedro Porro taking care of the defensive duties at right-back, while new England international Djed Spence is handling the left full-back role with ease.
Guglielmo Vicario is one Spurs star who seems to have secured his starting spot between the posts, alongside captain Cristian Romero and his centre-back partner Van de Ven. With some decisions to be made in midfield and up front, Frank may well see the confidence growing in his squad from their victory over West Ham and choose to stick with this plan for their next match.
However, some impressive players remained on the bench during the Premier League win - including Rodrigo Bentancur and Randal Kolo Muani - with Brennan Johnson and Destiny Udogie making substitute appearances to gain minutes. Speaking after the match, Frank was open about resting some key players ahead of the Champions League opener, but admitted rotation will be crucial to success for Spurs this season.
Praising his squad's depth and ability to rotate whilst maintaining standards, the 51-year-old said: "I think it's extremely important. It's important that I trust my players. Of course, they need to perform and train well and show the right attitude and all that, but they do and they train well. So, I have the privilege to, for example, rest Rodri [Bentancur].
"Of course, he could have played today, but he played two 90 minutes, he landed [from South America] Thursday morning. So, I'm not too worried about this, but what about Tuesday? What about the next one? And they can't play 70 games, all of them, all the time. Rodri is a key player for us. Richy is the same.
"He could have started but also played in 4,000m height against Bolivia and so on, and then others have done well. Lucas, look how he came on the pitch, and how he performed as well. I think Mathys, very impressive, the performance was maybe not through the roof, but it was very solid, I would say 7/10, worked hard, pressing, constant pressing, and that's very good also. You know he's not in the Champions League squad. I'm very happy with the squad."
The majority of Frank's starting eleven selects itself, though the midfield presents the biggest selection dilemmas. Bergvall's impressive displays ensure he retains his spot in our predicted lineup, with Sarr the unlucky man to miss out.
Tottenham predicted XI vs Villarreal
(4-2-3-1) Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence; Palhinha, Bentancur; Kudus, Bergvall, Simons; Richarlison.
