OPINION
Tottenham’s Champions League last 16 encounter with Borussia Dortmund is going to be hard enough as it is without a growing list of absentees.
Alongside the likes of Harry Kane and Dele Alli, the latest regular likely to miss out on the class is left-back Danny Rose, with the England international absent during Spurs’ training session yesterday, as reported by Sky Sports News.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino said it would be “impossible” for him to start and he faces a late fitness test to see if he can make the bench.
With Ben Davies also injured, Mauricio Pochettino looks suddenly very short on cover in that position, and that could force him to push experienced campaigner Jan Vertonghen out wide. That could be an issue.
Dortmund are likely to line up with English wonderkid Jadon Sancho on the right wing, and the 18-year-old must be licking his lips at the prospect of coming up against an ageing centre back being played out of position.
There’s no doubt that Vertinghen is a world class defender, and no denying that on his day he would eat a young winger like Sancho for breakfast, but with the teenager in fierce form, and with Spurs already looking pretty ragged, this could be a torrid affair for the Belgian.
If Sancho can isolate him out on the wing and get running at him full pelt, there could be trouble for Vertonghen, who is not blessed with the blistering pace required to deal with such a threat.
There is every chance that the Spurs man could have a blinder, of course, and there is also every chance that the occasion could get to Sancho and he might have a night to forget, but if form and expectations are observed, this could be a long, long night for Vertonghen.