A perfect Premier League record is what Tottenham Hotspur have kept so far. They might have played a couple of draws, but they still are an unbeaten side in the league. Most recently, the Lilly-Whites outnumbered the newly promoted side Middlesbrough by two goals to nil and up next is the Russian side, CSKA Moscow.
The Lilly-Whites gave a superb display in the last fixture and for the second time, the South Korean sensation Heung-Min Son scored a brace. They did fail to keep the clean sheet, but besides that, the home side barely troubled Lloris. But talking in another context, the Londoners need to keep their head high in the Champions League game.
CSKA Moscow vs Tottenham Hotspur Team News:
The home side will surely be lining up with Lacina Traore. The former Everton loanee so far has scored two goals in the campaign and will be looking to add more to his books.
Furthermore, another danger man for the Lilly-Whites would be Roman Eremenko, who scored the only goal for the side in their last Champions League tie. Sergei Ignashevich is expected to line up next to Vasili Berezutski in central defence. Vasili’s brother, Aleksei, is set for a place on the bench.
The travellers have a number of injuries to worry about:
Harry Kane will be an obvious absentee, and besides him, Spurs will be missing left-back Danny Rose and midfielders Eric Dier, Mousa Dembele and Moussa Sissoko. The trio of Dier, Rose and Dembele are suffering from a Hamstring injury, while Sissoko is still recovering from the concussion he suffered in the league win at Middlesbrough on Saturday.
So Ben Davies is likely to retain the spot, while Wanyama will be the deepest midfielder for the side. Furthermore, Alli might again be deployed in the centre of the park, while Eriksen will take the number 10 role.
Manager’s Words:
“The Champions League is a new competition for us and it’s important to have a strong squad for it,” said manager Mauricio Pochettino.
“We’ve signed several strong players to increase the competition in the team and now despite the injuries, we’re still a competitive side.”
“Now we need to improve our performance, we need to win on Tuesday,” he added.
“It’s very important to get all three points. We know it will be a very tough game but in our minds we want to get three points.”
Predicted Lineup:
CSKA Moscow-
Akinfeev
Fernandes; Berezutski; Ignashevic; Shchnnikov
Wernbloom; Dzagoev
Ionov; Eremenko; Golovin
Traore
Tottenham Hotspur-
Lloris
Walker; Alderweireld; Vertonghen; Davies
Wanyama; Alli
Lamela; Eriksen; Son
Janssen
Stats: (Skysports)
- This is the first competitive meeting between CSKA Moscow and Tottenham Hotspur. English clubs are unbeaten on their last four Champions League visits to CSKA Moscow (W2 D2 L0).
- CSKA Moscow have failed to keep clean sheet in their last eight Champions League games against English opposition.
- Tottenham have lost only one of their five previous encounters with Russian clubs in all competitions (1-0 away defeat v Rubin Kazan in the 2011/12 Europa League), winning three and drawing one.
- Spurs failed to win any of their away group stage games in their only other Champions League appearance in 2010/11 (W0 D2 L1); their only away victory that season came at the San Siro against Milan in the Last 16 (1-0).
- After reaching the knockout stages in 2011/12, CSKA Moscow have since failed to progress past the group stage picking up just three victories in 19 games since then (W3 D4 L12).
- CSKA have conceded in each of their last 23 Champions League matches since recording back to back clean sheets against Trabzonspor in 2011.
Prediction:
Spurs may have the perfect record in the Premier League, but the majority of the victories have been a narrow one, and that is something that Pochettino must work upon. As mentioned earlier, Champions League fixtures are never an easy one and being a newbie, the task would be much tougher.
Injuries will surely affect Spurs’ performance one way or the other, but besides that, the manager needs to work things out with Vincent Janssen. The new arrival from AZ hasn’t been on target for the side and that surely is a thing to worry. They do have scorers like Son and Lamela, but the striker plays an important role as well, especially in the counters.
A draw is what we expect: 2-2
