Tottenham Hotspur got back to winning ways on the weekend with a convincing 3-0 win over Everton in the Premier League. They begin another season in the UEFA Champions League group stage with a monstrous clash against German giants and early Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, who dropped their first points of the season away to Freiburg on Saturday.
Harry Kane put his August drought behind him, netting twice for England before another brace in the 3-0 win at Goodison Park after the break for his first goals in his first games in September. Last season’s Golden Boot winner will be licking his chops as he prepares to take another shot at the Champions League. Spurs will be weary though, and fans have reason to worry. Their Wembley woes are all too real. Tottenham are playing all their home games in 2017/18 at the National Stadium while construction continues at White Hart Lane. Last season they failed to win any of their three Champions League group stage games and crashed out in the round-of-32 in the Europa League there too as they tried to prepare for life after the lane. They are yet to win there this season either, beaten by Chelsea before Burnley stole a point a week later.
They will have to be even better than their best if they are to stop a rampant Borussia Dortmund team, managed by the experienced Peter Bosz who replaced Tomas Tuchel in the summer. Since defeat in the Super Cup on penalties to bitter rivals Bayern Munich, they have gone on a four-game winning streak without conceding a goal. They currently sit top of the Bundesliga on goal difference and are into the second round of the German DFB Cup. Christian Pulisic has been in inspiring form and has eased the pain of the loss of Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona, while front-man Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been in regular red-hot form and has netted in each of their wins so far this season.
Both teams will be looking to take an early advantage in what is a real ‘Group of Death’. Defending Champions Real Madrid and Apoel Nicosia from Cyrpus make up the numbers in the group, and this fixture could prove key to either sides chances of qualifying for the knockout rounds. The sides have met just twice previously, over two legs in the round of 16 of the Europa League in 2016 which Dortmund won 5-1 0n aggregate. The Germans will be without the pair of defenders Marc Bartra and Marcel Schmelzer who both picked up knocks ahead of the clash while there are no new injury concerns for Mauricio Pochettino or his Tottenham side.
Tottenham vs Dortmund head-to-head:
Games Played: 2
Tottenham Wins: 0
Drawn Games: 0
Dortmund Wins: 2
Past Matches:
10/03/2016 – Dortmund 3-0 Tottenham
17/03/2016 – Tottenham 1-2 Dortmund