Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Tottenham play their first Champions League tie in 6 seasons on Wednesday as they play host to French league leaders Monaco. Only they will be hosting the occasion at a different home as they play in front of a sell out Wembley crowd.
With building work going on at White Hart Lane, the North London base was deemed unsuitable for European nights this season so after much wrangling the club finally managed to get the keys to Wembley for their Champions League exploits.
And they go into the game full of confidence after beating Stoke 4-0 on Saturday. It was the performance that showed that Mauricio Pochettino’s side have dusted off the cobwebs and now look like the Tottenham that secured 3rd place last season.
Pochettino will look to welcome back Mousa Dembele into the fold after his lengthy suspension which came from events at The Battle of Stamford Bridge last season. Whether or not he will be thrown in straight from the start remains to be seen.
It’s almost as if Pochettino has a selection headache which is obviously a nice problem to have at this stage of the season. With Heung-min Son bagging a brace on Saturday he will have definitely put himself in contention to make a first ever appearance at Wembley.
They go up against a Monaco side who are unbeaten in their first for Ligue 1 matches and sit top of the table, these two sides met in the Europa League group stages last season and now will be a test as to which side makes the step up the best. It’s set to be exciting night at Wembley on Wednesday.
At the weekend Monaco breezed past Lille with a 4-1 win at the Grand Stand Lille Metropole. They raced into a 4-0 lead before got a late consolation. Like Spurs emphatic win at Stoke it seems as if Monaco have some ideal preparations of their own.
The key will be whether or not Tottenham can use Wembley to their advantage, the fact they won’t have the tight atmosphere of White Hart Lane could be a help or a hindrance but playing in front of a capacity crowd will surely give the side a massive boost.
I’ll go for a home win, I guess technically it is a home fixture even if it isn’t Tottenham’s real home. I just think with Harry Kane and Dele Alli both finding the net on Saturday and hitting their stride then they will be fired up for the start of this European campaign. Three points for Tottenham in my opinion.
