RB Leipzig facing their own concerns against Tottenham

Tottenham have received a sliver of good fortune amongst an ocean of bad, as RB Leipzig don’t have any first team centre backs available for the first leg. 

Dayot Upamecano, one of Tottenham’s summer transfer targets, is suspended for Wednesday’s match. It’s a massive loss for Leipzig, who rely heavily on the 21-year-old centre back. Upamecano is a highly touted centre back whose value on the open market exceeds £50 million.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg for Julian Nagelsmann’s personnel quandaries. His other two senior centre backs, Ibrahima Konate and Willi Orban, are injured and unavailable for selection. Of course Tottenham would prefer Leipzig to have a clean bill of health if it meant Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min were available.

But Spurs can take solace knowing they’ll be going up against Leipzig’s reserve centre backs, which, under ordinary circumstances, would translate into a massive advantage for the home side. Under these extraordinary conditions, we’ll call it wash.

Albeit minimal, this represents a silver lining for Jose Mourinho’s men. The lads can focus on putting relentless pressure on a more inexperienced rearguard. Orban has played in nine Bundesliga matches, while Konate has featured in just five domestic contests. Lucas Moura, Dele Alli and Steven Bergwijn will be licking their lips knowing how seldom Leipzig’s centre backs have featured this season.

Konate and Orban have played even less as a tandem, more encouraging news for Mourinho’s men. So all is not lost for the Lilywhites, who have more than enough up attacking nous, even after the devastating news of Son’s injury, up front to trouble a comparatively unseasoned, untested Leipzig back line.