BETTING TIPS: Tottenham Hotspur Vs Villareal Match Preview, Team News and Betting Guide
Reading Time: 4min | Tue. 16.09.25. | 13:02
Villareal will rely on La Liga's August player of the month and former Arsenal man Nicholas Pepe to lead the hunt for goals
Tottenham Hotspur will kickstart their Champions League campaign against Villarreal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday from 10 pm.
Having won the Europa League in the past term, despite an underwhelming league campaign, Spurs will hope to successfully attack the Champions League this season.
It is a new era of sorts as Tottenham will play a Champions League match without Harry Kane or Son Heung-min.
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With new manager Thomas Frank taking over the reins from Ange Postecoglou, who guided them to the Europa League, Spurs will be an interesting prospect this campaign.
Despite falling to Paris St. Germain in the UEFA Super Cup, Spurs have made a good account of themselves so far in the Premier League.
Spurs lie third in the league, having won three and lost one, conceding a goal while scoring eight.
It will be interesting to note that Tottenham Hotspur have avoided defeat in their last 20 UEFA games played at home.
It will be the first ever competitive meeting between the two sides, and when we dig deeper, we will note that Spurs have not fared well against Spanish opposition, winning only once in 13 times.
Under Thomas Frank, Spurs were busy in the transfer window, mainly bolstering their attack.
Randal Kolo Muani was brought in on loan from PSG, with Xavi Simmons from RB Leipzig, Mohammed Kudus from West Ham, with Mathys Tel being onboarded after a loan spell from Bayern Munich.
To shore up the midfield, they bought in Joao Palhinha on loan from Bayern, arguably one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League before his move to Bayern, which stifled his momentum.
Coach Frank will have a solid backline to choose from, coming off a clean sheet against West Ham with Christian Romero and Van De Ven as centre-backs.
The main issue will be in attack as Mathys Tel did not make the cut due to Spurs lacking homegrown players, thus Kolo Muani or Richarlison could lead the line with Domink Solanke still ruled out due to injury.
Coming off an assist in his first start, Xavi Simons is expected to start.
Spurs, however, are still without a raft of players in James Maddison, Yves Bissouma, and Radu Dragusin.
In his 4-3-3 against West Ham, Spurs had some structural issues with chance creation at its lowest in the first half, something they will need to sort out, as they had a 0.03 open play XG in the first half.
Frank could look to switch to his 4-2-4, which morphs into a 2-3-5 in attack.
Defensively against West Ham and Bournemouth, Spurs pressed in a 4-1-4-1, and this allowed the opponent to progress well against the first line of pressure.
Something he will look to fix and deny Villareal centre-backs space in the build-up to find attackers.
The Yellow Submarine finished fifth in La Liga thanks to the Spanish high UEFA Co-Efficient ranking, which saw them get a slot in the UEFA Champions League.
Coach Marcelino's men lie sixth in La Liga, having started really well, winning their first two matches with a total of seven goals and conceding none.
They have, however, faltered in the last two, losing one and drawing one, conceding three goals.
This is a form that will worry Coach Marcelino as he looks to have his charges qualify from the league phase.
The dip in form comes at a bad time as the Yellow Submarine have not performed well against English teams in European competitions, losing eight and drawing six of the previous fourteen meetings.
Villareal will rely on La Liga's August player of the month and former Arsenal man Nicholas Pepe to lead the hunt for goals, with Canadian Tajon Buchanan looking to provide the spark.
With Gerard Moreno still out with a hamstring injury, new season signing Georges Mikautadze will also look to aid in the hunt for goals.
Former Tottenham man Juan Foyth is also in the running to face his former side.
Key Pointers
Villareal have not won in their last two matches.
Tottenham has kept three clean sheets in their three wins this season.
Tottenham has scored ten goals in their last 5 matches
Our Prediction - Tottenham to win.
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