Tottenham Hotspur are travelling to Turin, Italy for their round of 16 Champions League tie against Juventus on Tuesday night. The Bianconeri are on an 8-game winning streak in the Serie A while collecting a clean sheet in 7 of those games. Massimiliano Allegri’s motivated squad will be a hard matchup for Tottenham in the first leg.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men triumphed over their North London rivals, Arsenal on the weekend and are looking stronger than ever. The headed the group stage ahead of the defending champions, Real Madrid and are without any injuries for this fixture. While Juventus are seriously underpowered with Juan Cuadrado, Benedikt Howedes, Blaise Matuidi and Paulo Dybala sidelined with injuries.
Tottenham’s accomplishments in the European competitions have been less than illustrious. They won the UEFA Europa League back in the 1982/83 season. It is only in recent times that they established themselves as a title contending side under the management of Pochettino and are looking to expand that in the European stage. A lack of experience in the competition often demerits newly established teams but one can not write them off completely.
Leicester City reached the Quarter Finals only to get knocked out by just one goal against Atletico Madrid. Pochettino is a fairly new face too but the young team that he has allocated over the past four years is resolute and hungry. The Argentine is expected to field his team in the 4-2-3-1 formation.
Defence
Hugo Lloris is the leading man in goal ahead of the Michel Vorm. The Frenchman is averaging 4 saves in the competition so far and has conceded only 4 so far.
He will be shielded by the centre-half pairing of Jan Vertonghen and Davinson Sanchez. Toby Alderweireld has not travelled with the team due to fitness issues.
Ben Davies has looked impressive on the left-back role and might just get rewarded by featuring in the starting XI for this game. The right will have to be covered by Kieran Trippier.
Midfield
Victor Wanyama is expected to get the start alongside Mousa Dembele in the holding midfield role. The Kenyan has returned from injury and his defensive role will turn out to be crucial against the likes of Miralem Pjanic and Sami Khedira.
Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli will have to take up the offensive duties with the former featuring from the right. Pochettino might also look for an injection of pace from the wide areas and Lucas Moura might get the nod. The Brazilian can feature on the left.
Attack
Harry Kane is the predicted starter in the number nine role.
