Aurier, Dier, Lamela to miss Tottenham-City Champions League clash

Tottenham Hotspur are just one sleep away from hosting Manchester City in the quarterfinals of the Champions League at Spurs’ new stadium. But they’ll have to do it without three of their players. Tottenham released team news for the match, and announced that Eric Dier, Serge Aurier, and Erik Lamela are all ruled out of Tuesday night’s match.

Poor Eric Dier just can’t seem to catch a break since the start of the new year. After missing time with both tonsillitis and an appendectomy, he returned briefly last month before picking up a hip injury while on international duty with England, and he hasn’t been seen since.

You will, however, notice a few names that are no longer on the list — Harry Winks has been given a clean bill of health after coming in off the bench in the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace last week. Likewise, Fernando Llorente is back after missing time last week due to a knock picked up in training.

It’s fun to speculate on lineups, but I have honestly no idea how Mauricio Pochettino will set up his team against City. The central midfield could be as simple as trotting out Winks and Moussa Sissoko, but Dele Alli had great success against City playing as a deeper central midfielder, and Winks started that match off on the bench. So who knows! This at least gives Spurs some options depending on Pochettino’s tactics and in-game situations.

Aurier’s absence will almost certainly mean that Kieran Trippier will start the match on the right side of defense, though considering his poor performance the last time Spurs played City, Poch might consider starting in a back three formation to give Trips a little extra cover.