Borussia Dortmund VS Tottenham Hotspur – Match Preview
Tottenham Hotspur face a huge test on Thursday evening as they travel to Germany to take on Borussia Dortmund in the last 16 of the Europa League.
It’s easily Tottenham’s biggest European tie since the 2010/11 season where their Champions League run came to an end at the hands of Real Madrid during the reign of Harry Redknapp.
Both teams are in good form, both 2nd in their leagues without too many injuries to worry about, which sets it up for what should be a very interesting game.
Spurs will be with without Alli who’s suspended, Rose who pulled up against Arsenal and Dier who it seems is being rested.
Dortmund’s defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos will not be fit in time to play on Thursday despite having resumed training with the squad. Thomas Tuchel, the manager who succeeded Jurgen Klopp in the summer, has confirmed that Roman Weidenfeller will continue to play in goal ahead of their 1st choice Bundesliga keeper Roman Burki.
Tottenham’s attention will more than likely be on the danger men that Dortmund possess rather than who’s playing in goal, as they have a long list of players on form who could hurt them if they get half a chance. Ilkay Gundogan, Marco Reus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are all likely to start.
With the incredible atmosphere that the fans can generate at the Signal Iduna Park, coming especially from the famous ‘Südtribüne’ South Bank stand known as the ‘Yellow Wall’, we might well see Spurs set up a bit more defensively than we’ve been used to so far this season and try to ride the storm while looking for a chance to get what could turn out to be a vital away goal.
What are your thoughts on this massive game for Spurs?