Tottenham and Frankfurt will go head-to-head in the Europa League quarter-finals at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday night, with Ange Postecoglou desperate for a result to help save his job.
The Lilywhites claimed a comfortable 3-1 win over Southampton in the Premier League at the weekend, and claimed their spot in the quarter-finals of this tournament with a 3-2 aggregate win over AZ Alkmaar. Frankfurt on the other hand currently sit third in the Bundesliga but fell to a 1-0 defeat to Werder Bremen at the weekend, and reached this stage of the competition with a 6-2 aggregate win over Ajax.
Both managers have some big decisions to make with their teams, and this is how GIVEMESPORT expect the sides to line up.
Tottenham Team News
Kulusevski and Danso ruled out
Postecoglou will be without key forward Dejan Kulusevski as he continues to recover from a calf problem, while Kevin Danso is also ruled out due to a hamstring injury.
Radu Dragusin is out for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury, while the manager must make a decision on the involvement of Micky Van de Ven after he was left out of the weekend win over the Saints. Antonin Kinsky, Sergio Reguilon, Fraser Forster and Timo Werner are ineligible.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Postecoglou shared an update on the squad.
"Everyone is good from the weekend from a physical standpoint. That's a good place to be for us, there haven't been that many occasions where that's happened this year, so from that point of view, it's good.
"Part of the strategy leading into this was that was we had quite a few players who were coming back from long-term injuries including Wilson, Destiny (Udogie), Micky (van de Ven), (Cuti) Romero, I could keep going, and we had to use games where we needed those guys to play, because otherwise, if I just kept playing Brennan, we'd be at a point now where Wilson, Destiny, these guys, would have had no game time, and we may need them.
"So, it wasn't about just leaving Brennan out because he wasn't performing, part of the strategy was that we needed to give Wilson some game time. We were able to give Micky and Destiny a rest at the weekend, so most of our guys are in a position where they're not fatigued, because they haven't been overplayed, but also they've played enough, and that's really important for us. We're in a good position from that point of view."
Tottenham Predicted XI
Archie Gray to start
Tottenham Predicted XI: Vicario; Porro, Gray, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bentancur, Bergvall; Johnson, Maddison, Son; Tel.
Tottenham Predicted Substitutes: Austin (GK), Whiteman (GK), Spence (DEF), Davies (DEF), Romero (DEF), Bissouma (MID), Sarr (MID), Odobert (FWD), Richarlison (FWD), Moore (FWD), Solanke (FWD), Scarlett (FWD).
After featuring in the international break for Argentina and in both games since the return, Cristian Romero could be rested to avoid any new injuries with Archie Gray coming back into the defence alongside Micky Van de Ven.
Mathys Tel could also get the nod against Bundesliga opposition, with £90,000-a-week star Dominic Solanke joining £165,000-a-week Romero on the bench.
Frankfurt Team News
Wahi ruled out
Frankfurt will be without January signing Elye Wahi for the trip to north London due to injury, while right-back Timothy Chandler is also unavailable.
Kevin Trapp, Ansgar Knauff, Can Uzun, Krisztian Lisztes and Junior Dina Ebimbe are all doubts for the game too, while Aurele Amenda is not part of the European squad and is ineligible.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Toppmoller shared his thoughts on the game.
"Unfortunately, Knauff isn’t quite ready. We’ve got a few ideas about how to replace him. We’ll find a solution-oriented option and play in a system that’s well-suited to the opposition.
"We need to be at our best as a team. We’re aware of the individual quality we’re facing with the likes of Son, Solanke and lots of other names. But we’ve got a team that can compete with Spurs.”
Frankfurt Predicted XI
Ekitike and Larsson start
Frankfurt Predicted XI: Santos; Kristensen, Koch, Theate, Brown; Tuta, Skhiri; Gotze, Larsson, Bahoya; Ekitike.
Frankfurt Predicted Substitutes: Siljevic (GK), Obert (GK), Nissen (DEF), Collins (DEF), Amenda (DEF), Nkounkou (DEF), Uzun (MID), Fenyo (MID), Dahoud (MID), Chaibi (MID), Batshuayi (FWD).
Frankfurt's highly-coveted duo Hugo Larsson and Hugo Ekitike should both start in north London and will be the main threats, while World Cup winner Mario Gotze will also play a part in attack too.