Mauricio Pochettino's men fell 2-0 behind early on at the Allianz Stadium last month, before fighting back to secure a 2-2 draw away from home. Aside from a shambolic opening 10 minutes, Spurs were superb for the majority of that match, controlling proceedings against tough opposition and scoring two vital away goals. The job is far from done, however, and Juventus’ experience at this level should stand them in good stead at Wembley this midweek. Tottenham were excellent in home victories over Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid in the group stage of this competition and will probably take a similar approach here, remaining compact without the ball and looking to spring forward at speed in transition.
Juventus turned in an uncharacteristically timid display in Turin and were unable to build on the two-goal lead they had established by the ninth minute of the first leg. It was a disappointing performance from a team who have reached two Champions League finals in the last three seasons, but the Bianconeri have a knack of pulling out results when they need them most. That was in evidence in domestic action at the weekend, when Max Allegri’s men moved to within a point of league leaders Napoli – with a game in hand on the Partenopei – thanks to a last-gasp strike from Paulo Dybala against Lazio. Juve will be buoyed by such a result and will be confident of keeping things tight at the back and doing damage on the break at Wembley.
Toby Alderweireld is unavailable for selection due to a hamstring injury, but the Belgium international was unlikely to be part of Pochettino’s starting XI anyway. Davinson Sanchez and Jan Vertonghen will continue in the heart of the hosts’ backline, with Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies likely to get the nod ahead of Serge Aurier – who gave away penalty in the first meeting between these two sides – and Danny Rose at full-back. Eric Dier and Mousa Dembele are favourites to begin the game in the centre of the park, while Son’s double against Huddersfield at the weekend could see him beat Erik Lamela to the final spot in a front four which will also feature Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Harry Kane.
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Juventus will have to make do without Juan Cuadrado (hip), Federico Bernardeschi (knee) and Mattia De Sciglio (thigh), but striker Gonzalo Higuain (ankle) is expected to be fit. Dybala has not had the most straightforward season but will be full of confidence after his dramatic winner against Lazio and looks set to start behind Higuain; behind them, a midfield trio of Miralem Pjanic, Sami Khedira and Blaise Matuidi will be expected to contribute in all phases of the game. Giorgio Chiellini will return to the starting line-up alongside Medhi Benatia at centre-half, with the evergreen Gianluigi Buffon continuing to keep out former Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny between the sticks.
This will probably be a tight, tense encounter between two excellent sides, and there is certainly a possibility of this tie going all the way to a penalty shoot-out. Rather than predicting an outcome, though, it could be worth backing fewer than 2.5 goals in 90 minutes.
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