Tottenham @ APOEL Lineups and Preview

Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham side is limited by UEFA rules, injury and suspension, but he still manages to name an strong side to face APOEL on Tuesday.

Indeed, this is a much stronger Tottenham side than most anyone expected. Despite having plenty of reserve players like Michel Vorm, Juan Foyth, Georges-Kévin Nkoudou and Fernando Llorente available, Pochettino has instead named a squad full of Premier League regulars.

In Pochettino’s defense, underestimating APOEL runs a pretty high risk. Though their fortunes of late haven’t been as spectacular, back in 2011/12 APOEL pulled off a thoroughly unlikely quarterfinal run in the Champions League. They might not challenge Spurs for style or flash, but they will be gunning for any result they can get by any means available to them.

Pochettino will have kept that remarkable season in mind during the club’s 2,000 mile journey to Nicosia, and it looks as if he’s named a team that can overcome the best of APOEL.

Serge Aurier is due to serve a suspension of his own in this coming weekend’s match against Huddersfield, so perhaps it makes sense for him to be here — but it looks as if he will be playing well out of position.

Both Aurier’s understudy Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies both also start, presumably in the full-back positions outside of Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sánchez. Then, ahead of the defense, Eric Dier and Harry Winks will patrol the center of the park.

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The Ivorian, meanwhile, looks to be part of Pochettino’s four man attack, alongside Moussa Sissoko, Heung-min Son and Harry Kane. Such a switch isn’t too shocking — after all, Aurier is very much an attacking full-back even if his highlight reel as Spurs thus far is all defense — but it changes the complexion of this side entirely.

With Dele Alli suspended and both Christian Eriksen and Érik Lamela out injured, Spurs are left with virtually no creativity in attack. Winks will help with this somewhat with his clever passing, but for the most part this will be an especially direct, pacey frontal assault from the visitors. 

Against a APOEL side that will likely sit deep in hopes of playing out for a draw, this could be concerning. Spurs are going to need a player who can weave a ball through dense lines. Replacing that with essentially two strikers and two runners might not be enough.

Next: Harry Winks adds control to the chaos

The 90 minutes of the match will provide us answers to these lingering questions in short order. Stay tuned after the match for a full report, as well as Man of the Match honors and player ratings.