Mauricio Pochettino has announced his starting XI for Spurs’ first Champions League match of the new campaign against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.
Serge Aurier makes his debut at the expense of Kieran Trippier, and Heung-Min Son replaces the suspended Dele Alli, as expected.
The news was announced on the official Tottenham Twitter page ahead of the 7.45pm kick-off.
#THFC: Lloris (C), Aurier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Davies, Dier, Dembele, Eriksen, Son, Kane. #COYS pic.twitter.com/ttCx6fnIP2
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 13, 2017
Tottenham fans will be aware of how big this game is after a disappointing Champions League campaign last season.
They kicked off last September at Wembley against Monaco but found themselves two goals down after 31 minutes after goals from Bernardo Silva and Thomas Lemar.
Toby Alderweireld got them back into the game in the 45th minute but that was the last goal in a disappointing 2-1 defeat.
Spurs beat CSKA Moscow next away, but then drew against Bayer Leverkusen away before losing their second successive Champions League game at Wembley.
After losing to Monaco 2-1 again, they won their way into the Europa league by beating CSKA Moscow at Wembley but went straight out to Gent over two legs – unable to find a win at Wembley in the second leg which finished 2-2.
Real Madrid are also in Group H, along with Spurs and Borussia Dortmund, and only the biggest optimist would deny that anything but a victory would spell real trouble for their progress in the competition.