On Wednesday night in the Champions League, Tottenham Hotspur will take on one of the darkhorse sides of the competition in Ligue 1 giants Monaco, and while Spurs would have liked to think that they were one of the darkhorse teams coming into the competition, they have lost that status.
After starting the season brightly by pushing PSG to their limit and blowing out Manchester City, Tottenham have struggled to put away inferior opponents and haven't really had a dominant win in weeks. Their latest disappointing display was a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa in the Premier League.
It won't get easier for Tottenham against Monaco either. Via Sky Sports, Tottenham manager Thomas Frank has told reporters that neither star center back Cristian Romero nor left back Destiny Udogie will be able to play against the Ligue 1 side on Wednesday night.
Romero was a late scratch on Sunday against Aston Villa with an adductor injury that could cost him a couple of more weeks of action, depending on how the World Cup and Europa League hero recovers. Meanwhile, Udogie was also a miss against Villa and remains without a clear timetable for a return.
Tottenham's left wing will feel the heat
Neither player was able to practice for Spurs ahead of the Champions League matchup, and so Tottenham will have to, once again, turn to Djed Spence at left back and Kevin Danso in the central defensive position.
While Spence is a decent player, he's clearly second best to Udogie, especially when looking at how much more Udogie adds in an attacking sense. Not having Udogie out there puts a lot more strain on the left winger, and given that Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel have their flaws at the highest level of competition, Udogie is going to be a big miss against a good Champions League team like Monaco.
Danso was actually great against Villa and is a top center back in his own right who has plenty of experience shining against Monaco specifically, dating back to his time in Ligue 1 with Monaco. But nobody, not even a quality player like Danso, can replicate what Romero brings to the table for Spurs, especially since he offers so much offensively as a progressor and passer despite being a center back.
Tottenham are already reeling after the loss to Aston Villa, and this team will find out a lot about what they are made of on Wednesday without Udogie and captain Romero available for Frank.