Tottenham Hotspur return to Europa League action on Thursday night when they take on Serie A giants AS Roma at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs returned to Premier League action against reigning champions Manchester City on Saturday and claimed a stunning 4-0 win, and will look to return to winning ways in Europe after suffering defeat to Galatasaray last time out in Istanbul. Roma on the other hand have changed manager since their last Europa League game, where they were held to a 1-1 draw by USG. Claudio Ranieri's arrival couldn't help at the weekend though as they were beaten by league leaders Napoli.
Both teams have their own injury problems coming into this game, and this is how GIVEMESPORT expect the sides to line up as a result.
Tottenham Team News
Vicario out for months
Ange Postecoglou has been rocked by the news that first-choice goalkeeper Vicario has been ruled out for several months after fracturing his ankle during the win over Man City, adding to the injury problems within the squad. Defender Micky Van de Ven is ruled out for several more weeks with a hamstring problem, and Mikey Moore and Cristian Romero look set to miss out after being absent from training.
Richarlison and Wilson Odobert remain long-term absentees while Will Lankshear is suspended after his red card against Galatasaray, but Rodrigo Bentancur is available.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Postecoglou shared an update on the squad.
"Not really. It's not going to be weeks. It'll be months. He's had his surgery and because it's Vic and I don't like giving timelines as it puts expectations on them. Once we're in the rehab stage we'll know more."
Tottenham Predicted XI
Bentancur to start
Tottenham Predicted XI: Forster; Gray, Dragusin, Davies, Spence; Bentancur, Bissouma; Johnson, Bergvall, Werner; Solanke.
Tottenham Predicted Substitutes: Austin (GK), Udogie (DEF), Porro (DEF), Romero (DEF), Sarr (MID), Kulusevski (MID), Maddison (MID), Cassanova (MID), Son (FWD), Moore (FWD), Williams-Barnett (FWD).
With several key injuries, Postecoglou is unlikely to risk too many first-team stars ahead of a busy schedule and this is a good opportunity for some fringe players to get minutes under their belt. Bentancur will almost certainly start in midfield while Romero is unlikely to be thrown back in. Timo Werner could get the nod on the wing after his cameo performance against Man City, with big earners James Maddison and captain Heung-Min Son rested ahead of the weekend clash with Fulham.
Roma Team News
Hummels back in involved
Ranieri opted to revert to a more old-fashioned 4-4-2 in the Napoli defeat, despite making very few changes to the personnel. Lorenzo Pellegrini returned from injury to replace Matias Soule in the only change from Juric's final game, while Paulo Dybala was only fit enough for the bench. He's unlikely to be ready to start in London, but should be on the bench again.
Alexis Saelemaekers is closing in on a return to the first team, but Uzbek international Eldor Shomurodov is a confirmed absentee with a muscle problem while Mario Hermoso hasn't travelled with the squad.
Roma Predicted XI
Dybala to be on the bench
AS Roma Predicted XI: Svilar; Celik, Mancini, Hummels, Angelino; El Shaarawy, Kone, Cristante, Saelemaekers; Pellegrini, Dovbyk.
AS Roma Predicted Substitutes: Ryan (GK), Marin (GK), Ndicka (DEF), Abdullhamid (DEF), Aboubacar (DEF), Pisilli (MID), Zalewski (MID), Paredes (MID), Baldanzi (MID), Dahl (MID), Le Fee (MID), Soule (FWD), Dybala (FWD).