Tottenham Hotspur will look to establish a decisive lead when they host RB Leipzig in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie on Wednesday night.
Spurs finished second to Bayern Munich in Group B to reach the knockout stages for a third season running, while Leipzig topped Group G to reach this stage for the first time.Team NewsTottenham coach Jose Mourinho will be missing long-term absentees Harry Kane (hamstring) and midfielder Moussa Sissoko (knee surgery), while Son Heung-min has not been ruled out for several weeks due to arm fracture injury.Both winger Erik Lamela and defender Juan Foyth missed the Villa game with groin injuries and are considered doubts to appear on Wednesday.As for RB Leipzig, they have multiple injuries to deal with Tyler Adams has been ruled out with a groin injury, while his midfield teammate Kevin Kampl is a doubt with a foot problem. Skipper Willi Orban (knee) and fellow defender Ibrahima Konate (hip) are also on the injury list, while Dayot Upamecano is suspended for this game. It leaves the Germans team with no recognised center-back for Wednesday night encounter.Julian Nagelsmann is expected to stick with a back-three formation, which could potentially see Manchester City loanee Angelino slot in at wing-back.
Head-to-Head
This will be the first meeting between these two teams in the Champions League and indeed in their history with RB Leipzig have not played an English club in a competitive fixture as yet, so this match will be a first.Tottenham have a great record against German clubs, having beaten Borussia Dortmund four times in their four encounters. The most recent tie came last season when they went through 4-0 on aggregate at the last 16 stages against Die Borussen.
Recent Form
Spurs are coming off a three-game winning streak in February so far, having started the month by defeating Manchester City 2-0. They then edged out Southampton 3-2 in the FA Cup fourth-round replay and most recently scored a last-minute winner to sink Aston Villa in a 3-2 victory.Leipzig, by contrast, have had mixed fortunes in their recent games as they suffered a cup defeat, losing 3-1 to Frankfurt in the DFB-Pokal, before gaining a point with a goalless draw away to league leaders Bayern Munich. They warmed up for this game with an impressive 3-0 win against Werder Bremen and will look to replicate their performance in London on Wednesday.
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Davies; Alli, Winks, Lo Celso; Sessegnon, Moura, Bergwijn.
RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:
Gulacsi; Mukiele, Klostermann, Halstenberg; Sabitzer, Haidara, Laimer, Angelino; Nkunku; Werner, Poulsen.
Prediction:
Tottenham 2-1 RB Leipzig
