The all confident Tottenham side will finally mark their return in the Champions League after six years of wait, as they will be welcoming the Ligue 1 giants AS Monaco for the first fixture of the Champions League group stage.
The last time the Lilly-Whites featured in the competition, they were under the management of Harry Redknapp and they managed to reach the quarter-finals. The competition is surely tougher this time around as the Pochettino’s men are potted in a relatively difficult group which comprised of CSKA Moscow and Bayer Leverkusen in addition to Monaco.
The Lilly-Whites will be carrying a great confidence in their veins as they recently outnumbered the fellow Premier League side Stoke City with a humiliating scoreline of four goals to nil and will be hoping to replicate the same result, but Monaco are a stern test and competition will be stiffer.
Monaco defeated Fenerbahce and Villarreal in the 3rd qualifying round and playoff round respectively to get to this stage. They are currently top of the Ligue 1 table with 10 points, also they have been unbeaten since the beginning of this season. They did well to grab another win on Saturday, they defeated 0-4 Lille on the road. They will be hoping to carry their good form into the Champions League as they travel to London.
Monaco vs Tottenham Hotspur Team News:
The Lilly-Whites do not really have many injury issues, but the only player who is expected to be sidelined is the English international, Danny Rose. The 26-year-old left back, who is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, also missed the fixture against Stoke and many believe that Ben Davies is likely to step up for the second time running.
Furthermore, a huge boost for Spurs will be the possible return of midfielder Mousa Dembele, who has been suspended domestically following his altercation with Chelsea striker Diego Costa back in May. He is eligible to play should Pochettino select him.
Monaco have a few more injury issues, but will still have quite a strong squad. Thomas Lemar has returned to training, but his status for the match is unknown, according to the Monaco team website.
Tottenham vs Monaco: Head to Head
Both teams have played 3 times in the past, a club friendly in 2013 and two legged game in the Europa League last year. Both teams have won 1 game each against each other and drawn once.
Monaco predicted lineup
- Danijel Subašić
- Fabinho
- Kamil Glik
- Jemerson
- Benjamin Mendy
- Andrea Raggi
- Djibril Sidibé
- Tiemoué Bakayoko
- João Moutinho
- Bernardo Silva
- Valère Germain
Tottenham predicted lineup
- Hugo Lloris
- Ben Davies
- Toby Alderweireld
- Jan Vertonghen
- Kyle Walker
- Eric Dier
- Victor Wanyama
- Christian Eriksen
- Dele Alli
- Son Heung
- Harry Kane
Stats: (Taken from FourFourTwo)
- Tottenham and Monaco’s only previous encounter was in last season’s Europa League group stages. Both teams drew in Monaco (1-1) before Spurs won 4-1 at White Hart Lane.
- Tottenham have won all four of their home games against French clubs in European competition (11 goals scored, 5 conceded).
- Monaco have won only one of their last five away games against English opposition (D2 L2), it was versus Arsenal in the 2014/15 Champions League Last 16 (3-1).
- Tottenham are in the Champions League group stages for the second time after 2010/11. They were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Real Madrid.
- No team scored more goals than Tottenham in the group stages of 2010/11 (18), Spurs’ only previous appearance in the Champions League.
- Tottenham have won one of their last five Champions League games (1-0 v AC Milan in February 2011), drawing two and losing two.
- Tottenham are the first team since Arsenal to play their Champions League home games at Wembley. The Gunners did it in the 1998/99 and 1999/00 group stages, winning only two of their six games (D1 L3).
- This is Monaco’s seventh Champions League campaign. Only Lyon (14), Marseille and Paris SG (9) have more among French clubs.
Prediction:
Both the teams have tasted a great result in the last weekend and hence, a tough competition is expected at the Wembley. Monaco have won 3 of their 4 league games and drawn 1, while Spurs have won 2 and drawn 2.
Spurs do have the home advantage in the fixture, but as mentioned earlier, Monaco are no easy task to look over. Besides that, the French travellers are the more experienced side in the Champions League than the Londoners, therefore, they carry an upper hand here, but we personally believe the Tottenham will clinch away the victory this time around as well.
2-1 Spurs
