The selection dilemma that Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho ahead of Dinamo Zagreb clash
Tottenham Hotspur take on Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16 first leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium later tonight. According to Football.london, Jose Mourinho, however, faces a serious selection headache owing to potential suspensions going forward.
Three Spurs stars are just a booking away from being suspended and will need to tread carefully tonight. Dele Alli, Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg and Matt Doherty are the three players at risk.
According to Europa League rules, if a player picks up three yellow cards during the competition, they will have to undergo a one-match ban, meaning the trio could potentially be ruled out of the return leg next week.
A reprieve will not necessarily mean the trio will be let off. If anything, it buys them a stay of execution and will need to tread a very fine line in the return leg. The yellow card system in the Europa League is not reset until the last-eight stage of the competition is reached.
Whilst those three players are at immediate risk of being forced to serve a ban, Toby Alderweireld, Davinson Sanchez, Ben Davies, Lucas Moura and Tanguy Ndombele all have one yellow card each. If any of those were to be cautioned in this evening’s first-leg, they would run the risk of being one game away from a ban if they featured against Zagreb in the second-leg next week.
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Hopefully, no player gets on the bad side of the referee tonight. Spurs are well within their rights to expect glory in the competition and a win tonight will take us one step closer to just that.
