TOTTENHAM VS BORUSSIA DORTMUND

Spurs will want to avoid handing their German rivals the initiative when they open their Champions League group at Wembley on Wednesday

The pressure will be on Tottenham to get off to a quick start in the Champions League when they host Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.

Spurs have been handed a tough group that also contains defending champions Real Madrid and may find themselves playing catch-up if they do not begin with a home win.

They will take on Peter Bosz's men without Dele Alli, though the former Ajax coach has a number of absences of his own to contend with.

Game	Tottenham vs Borussia Dortmund
Date	Wednesday, September 13
Time	19:45 BST / 14:45 ET

SQUADS & TEAM NEWS

Position	Tottenham players
Goalkeepers	Lloris, Vorm, Gazzaniga, Whiteman
Defenders	Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Sanchez, Foyth, Aurier, Davies, Walker-Peters
Midfielders	Dier, Sissoko, Dembele, Eriksen, Winks, Georgiou, Oakley-Boothe
Forwards	Son, Kane, Llorente

Tottenham are without Dele Alli, who was sent off in their final Europa League match last season and as a result starts a three-game ban.

The injured Victor Wanyama, Danny Rose, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and Erik Lamela also miss out, but Mousa Dembele is expected to be available.

Potential starting XI: Lloris; Sanchez, Alderweireld, Vertonghen; Aurier, Dier, Dembele, Davies; Eriksen, Kane, Son.

Position	Borussia Dortmund players
Goalkeepers	Weidenfeller, Reimann, Burki
Defenders	Zagadou, Subotic, Toljan, Beste, Sokratis, Piszczek, Toprak, Schumacher
Midfielders	Sahin, Dahoud, Pulisic, Kagawa, Castro, Bruun Larsen, Sauerland
Forwards	Yarmolenko, Gotze, Isak, Aubameyang, Philipp, Serra

Dortmund have a lengthy injury list to contend with. They are particularly short at full-back due to the absences of Erik Durm, Raphael Guerreiro and Marcel Schmezler as well as Marc Bartra.

Sebastian Rode, Marco Reus and Andre Schurrle are also out but Julian Weigl has travelled and Neven Subotic could join the squad in London late if he recovers from illness.

Potential starting XI: Burki; Piszczek, Sokratis, Toprak, Zagadou; Castro, Sahin, Gotze; Pulisic, Aubameyang, Philipp.

GAME PREVIEW

Wembley has been a problem for Tottenham in Europe.

Spurs lost to Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen at the national stadium last season before a home draw with Gent in the Europa League knockout stage ended their continental run.

Their only victory on their adopted turf came against CSKA Moscow, who did not win a game.

But if Spurs thought last year's group was difficult, the latest draw has been even tougher on them.

Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund as the first and second seeds is about as challenging as it gets and Spurs have little room for error: they start against Dortmund, who they will likely compete with for second place behind Madrid, at home.

Anything but a win immediately gives the German side the edge and will leave Tottenham almost certainly needing to either get a result against Madrid or at Signal Iduna Park in the return clash.

There is more European experience in Spurs' ranks this year. Serge Aurier could debut, while Davinson Sanchez is in contention to face his old coach and Fernando Llorente is no newcomer to this competition.

Source :  Oli Platt Of  Goal.Com