Last year’s UEFA Champions League runners-up, Tottenham Hotspur, begin this year’s campaign on Wednesday night with a trip to Greek side Olympiacos. They’ll do so with a ton of team news, pertaining to both the injured and healthy players.
We’ll start with the news surrounding a couple of key players who will be fit for this match- winger/midfielder Christian Eriksen and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. The former continues to be linked with a move away this January, most often to Real Madrid or Juventus, while the latter has made some controversial, anti-team remarks in public.
The Daily Mail reports that Spurs are desperate to hang on to the Dane, and they are willing to offer him a contract worth a staggering £230,000 a week in order to do so. It’s understandable, given how he is the team’s most creative player on the pitch.
His uncertain future is obviously a hindrance to the team, and it’s a situation that they need resolve as quickly as possible. Regarding Lloris, he said in an interview with France Football:
“I am involved in a project and I know that I’m less likely to win trophies here than at another club, but that doesn’t stop me, far from it.”
Expect this topic to come up during the prematch media activities, as Lloris certainly has some explaining to do. By the way, Tottenham have not won a trophy since the 2008 League Cup.
Moving on to the injury and fitness situation, summer signing Giovani Lo Celso is out until the end of next month, at the very least, due to a hip injury that he suffered while representing Argentina during the recent international break.
Juan Foyth is also out, with an indefinite return date. Meanwhile Davinson Sanchez (ankle), Kyle Walker-Peters (hamstring) and Eric Dier (hip) are minor doubts.
Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) is a major doubt due to a hamstring problem.
The Sports Bank Tottenham Hotspur Starting XI Prediction
Forwards: Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Son Heung-Min
Midfielders: Harry Winks, Tanguy Ndombele, Harry Skipp
Back line: Ben Davies, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Serge Aurier
Goalkeeper: Hugo Lloris
Tottenham Hotspur at Olympiacos UCL Group B FYIs
Kickoff: Karaiskakis Stadium, Wednesday Sept 18, 5:55 pm
Google Result Probability: Tottenham Hotspur win 49%, Draw 27%, Olympiacos win 24%
Odds via Bwin: Tottenham Hotspur win 17/20, Draw 12/5, Olympiacos win 16/5
Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 2, Olympiacos 1
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.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.