Tottenham Hotspur host Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium tonight in the first leg of their last-16 knockout tie.
Spurs fans will be hoping the two legs follow the trend of the group matches between the two sides in last season’s Champions League as they won both fixtures.
Whether they can stop the Bundesliga leaders from advancing in the competition is yet to be seen, but with their current crop of injuries, it will be tough for Mauricio Pochettino to have a preferred side ahead of the game.
With that being said, if he is to overcome Lucien Favre, this pairing should be benched…
Victor Wanyama
The attacking and free-flowing nature of Dortmund at the moment means that Pochettino is best off operating with a five-at-the-back system rather than the 4-diamond-2 of late.
That means a midfield duo of Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko is most likely to be deployed, leaving no space for Oliver Skipp and Victor Wanyama to start.
Wanyama has been suffering with injuries throughout the season and having just started four games all season, a Champions League Knockout match is not the best place to reintroduce him and build-up his match fitness.
Fernando Llorente
Llorente has netted just one goal in six games since he took to Harry Kane’s striking role whilst he is out injured.
It was obvious it would take him a short while to get up to match sharpness and find that clinical nature again, but that is not so much the problem as he is doing his best, it is just that other options may be better suited to the game.
It will be a tie of high intensity and speed, involving a lot of end-to-end action. That is why an auxiliary front two of Heung-min Son and Lucas Moura could work in their favour as if Dortmund are likely to try and dominate the ball, Spurs can look for a quick counter-attack to make the most of their rapid frontline.
