It’s Tottenham vs Ajax today at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The two sides will lock horns later today for the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg.
Although Tottenham Hotspur has defied all odds to get to the semis including dumping Premier League champions, Manchester City out of the competition but they’ll be wary of Ajax who have stunned defending champions of this competition, Real Madrid and Juventus who boasts of 5 time Balloon d’Or winner, Ronaldo.
Tottenham vs Ajax (Team News)
Tottenham will be without Son Heung-min for the first leg of the semi-final after the in-form attacker picked up his third yellow card of the tournament in the second leg against Manchester City in the previous round.
Fellow striker Harry Kane remains absent with a ligament injury which has kept the England captain out since early April, whilst Mauricio Pochettino will face similar problems in midfield as both Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko are set to miss out for the home side.
However, Spurs’ defensive ranks are likely to be bolstered by the return of Vertonghen to the fold as the Belgium international was rested for Saturday’s defeat to West Ham, but should return to face his former side in north London.
Meanwhile, Ajax have their own injury problems in almost all areas of the pitch with winger Hassane Bande continues to recover from fibula shaft fractures, whilst defensive midfielder Carel Eiting and right back Noussair Mazraoui continue to nurse knee and ankle injuries respectively.
(Tottenham vs Ajax) Head to Head
These two sides have only faced off in one previous European tie, with Spurs running out 6-1 aggregate winners in the first round of the 1981-82 Cup Winners’ Cup.Spurs won the home leg of that tie 3-0, although that is Ajax’s only previous defeat in London having otherwise won once and drawn twice in the English capital.
Tottenham have only ever lost one home game against Dutch opposition and are six matches without defeat to an Eredivisie outfit stretching back to 2007.
(Tottenham, Ajax) Recent Form
Saturday’s defeat to West Ham in the Premier League came as a blow to Spurs in the build-up to their Champions League showdown, but Pochettino’s side have been in otherwise decent form of late.
A trilogy of encounters with Manchester City saw Tottenham overcome Pep Guardiola’s side over the two legs of their Champions League quarter-final tie, though the north Londoners did lose to the champions when they met later in the Premier League.
However, recent wins over Huddersfield and Brighton have steered Spurs well on course to securing third place in the league, enabling them to give priority to their European commitments.
Ajax have been going strong in the Eredivisie to match up their domestic form with their Champions League heroics.
Recent league wins over Groningen and Vitesse have followed on from Erik ten Hag’s side’s stunning quarter-final victory over Juventus.
Significantly, Ajax will have enjoyed a full week’s rest without a match by the time the two side’s meet on Tuesday, having had their scheduled Eredivisie clash at the weekend postponed to enable them more preparation time for the Champions League clash.
Tottenham possible starting lineup: Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Eriksen, Dier, Alli, Rose; Llorente, Lucas
Ajax possible starting lineup: Onana; Veltman, De Ligt, Blind, Mazraoui; Schone, De Jong; Ziyech, Van Beek, Neres; Tadic
