By Betsefy
Tottenham Hotspur face another daunting trip without key wide player Dejan Kulusevski this Tuesday, as they travel to Eintracht Frankfurt off the back of a 3-1 defeat to rivals Arsenal on the weekend.
The Swedish winger returned from the international break with a reported hamstring injury, after playing 174 of a possible 180 minutes for Janne Andersson‘s side, registering an assist in a 4-1 defeat to Serbia.
The 22-year-old has made a tremendous impact since his arrival from Juventus at the start of the 2020-21 season, registering 13 goal involvements in just 14 starts last campaign, as well as three assists and a well-taken goal against Southampton this time around.
While Antonio Conte has not yet called upon Kulusevski to start in the Champions League, preferring Richarlison to the Swede in both group stage games so far, the Lilywhites certainly missed his attacking spark on Saturday, as the Italian coach struggled to find attacking options from the bench to freshen up a beleaguered front three.
That attacking trio of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Richarlison will almost certainly be the marksmen of choice on Tuesday, with the side hoping that they can strike early to avoid facing up to their lack of offensive alternatives once again.
Elsewhere, the fitness of Ben Davies is proving to be a growing concern, as the Welshman did not travel with Wales for their Nations League fixtures, and was also absent for the North London derby.
The versatile defender has been a pillar of consistency for this Tottenham side, but looks likely to miss this week’s Champions League encounter with a knee problem.
The former Swansea City full-back should be replaced once again by Clement Lenglet on the left side of the back three, as Spurs will most likely look to match Frankfurt’s favoured formation.
Oliver Glasner‘s 3-4-3 is no doubt inspired by Antonio Conte’s revival of the system during the 2016-17 season at Chelsea, with the Austrian coach preferring to use inverted wingers Daichi Kamada and Jesper Lindstrom, rather than powerful, wide runners.
Battles in the central areas will be key to this game, so expect to see Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma tasked with tracking those inverted runs.
Looking to freshen up after an intense battle on the weekend, we also predict to see the likes of Ryan Sessegnon and Davinson Sanchez given opportunities to shine.
Tottenham possible starting lineup: Lloris; Romero, Dier, Sanchez; Sessegnon, Bentancur, Bissouma, Perisic; Richarlison, Kane, Son
