Tottenham Hotspur will do their best Taylor Swift impersonation, in terms of the 1-0 loss to West Ham United yesterday (their first in the new stadium), and “shake shake shake shake shake it off shake it off.” According to Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino, they will quickly look forward to the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal tie versus Ajax on Tuesday.
That’s exactly what they should do, as one could call this midweek clash the biggest match that the club has seen in nearly a half century. Let’s take a look at the fitness situation for this titanic clash.
The absence of central defender Jan Vertonghen in the hammers defeat on the weekend had Spurs fans concerned. However, there is nothing to worry about as the Belgian international was simply being rested. No injury set-backs, he’s fine.
“We cannot avoid 100 per cent the risk always in football, but sometimes like today Vertonghen is out of the squad. He finished with big fatigue and today was a massive risk to play with him.” Pochettino said prematch on Saturday.
However, Heung-Min Son is suspended, Moussa Sissoko (groin injury) is a doubt and Harry Winks (hip injury) has been ruled out.
“Sissoko, I don’t know we will have to assess tomorrow,” Pochettino said.
“I think Harry Winks no.”
You also have three more players expected to miss out on this one for Spurs- Harry Kane, Serge Aurier and Erik Lamela. In regards to Kane, he’s been ruled out for the season with an ankle injury.
In other words, lots of injury concerns for Spurs, and thus we devoted the entire injury report portion of our match preview coverage to the north London side. In terms of Ajax, we will be covering their situation in a future post, as we’re still waiting on some team news updates.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Ajax UEFA Champions League Leg 1/2 FYIs
Kickoff- Tuesday Apr 30, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 8pm
Tottenham Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Google Result Probability Tottenham win 40%, Draw 28%, Ajax win 32%
Odds to qualify at Bet online- Ajax +120, Tottenham -110
Prediction: Tottenham 1, Ajax 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, also contributes to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.