Key events
“Why is Sessegnon awarded an ‘R’ in the team news – have Spurs signed his twin Steven?” asks Richard Hirst. Nope, that would be my copying and pasting, R Hirst.
In the early Champions League matches this evening, Napoli are beating Ajax 3-1 in Group A and Atlético are drawing 0-0 at home with surprise package Brugge, who lead Group B. You can follow all tonight’s matches with our live scores page here.
Kieran McHugh would like to make a case for last week’s 0-0 draw. “I know the link to the Guardian match report claims last week’s first instalment wasn’t up to much, but it was actually a decent match, albeit without goals.” Last week’s report was actually a review of an Ed Sheeran gig.
Team news
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris (c); Romero, Dier, Lenglet; Emerson Royal, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, R Sessegnon; Richarlison, Kane, Son. Subs: Forster, Doherty, Skipp, Sánchez, Bryan Gil, Perisic, Spence, Moura, Sarr, B Davies, Bissouma, White.
Eintracht Frankfurt: Trapp; Tuta, Hasebe, N’Dicka; Jakic, Rode (c), Sow, Lenz, Lindstrom, Kamada, Muani. Subs: Smolcic, Alidou, Borre, Alario, Chandler, Ebimbe, Götze, Grahl, Ramaj.
Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain)
Spurs make three changes, with Richarlison, Emerson Royal and Clement Lenglet in for Yves Bissouma, Matt Doherty and Ben Davies. Lucas Moura returns to the bench after a lengthy injury absence with a tendon issue. Götze, Ebimbe, Alario and Borre drop to the bench after Eintracht’s 3-0 loss against bottom-of-the-table Bochum.
This is the first Spurs home match since the death of Gian Piero Ventrone, the club’s much-loved Italian fitness coach, and former Tottenham forward John Duncan, who passed away at the weekend. A minute’s silence will be held to remember both men before kick-off. Here’s how Ventrone’s seat in the dugout looks this evening. It’s a lovely, touching tribute.
Preamble
If Tottenham are going to qualify for the knockout stage without any drama they could really do with a win this evening. They’ve beaten Marseille at home, lost at Sporting and drawn at Eintracht Frankfurt. With Sporting at home and then a trip to Marseille bringing Spurs’ Group D games to a close, three points here is in order. Here’s how the table looks:
It’s pretty tight, then. Star of last night’s CBeebies Bedtime Stories, Harry Kane, will hopefully provide a decent storyline. Kane has drawn a blank in the Champions League so far this season despite being prolific domestically. He read the Lion Inside on his BBC appearance, the story of a timid mouse who discovers his inner lion. After a quiet return to Europe’s top table, now would be a great time for Spurs to follow that little rodent’s lead and make some flipping noise.
Maybe Antonio Conte will loosen the handbrake a little to help with that. We could certainly do with a tad more entertainment than the two sides delivered a week ago in Germany. Tottenham should have the fit again Lucas Moura back in the squad though Conte will not risk Dejan Kulusevski given the hectic schedule they face in the leadup to the World Cup. Eintracht come into this game having been beaten 3-0 by the Bundesliga’s bottom side, Bochum, on Saturday. They should have a stronger lineup this evening, mind.