Monaco v Tottenham preview

Tottenham face a crunch Champions League meeting with top of Group E Monaco on Tuesday night.

Spurs, who sit third behind Bayer Leverkusen and Monaco, will be unable to qualify for the knock-out round if they fail to win and Bayer beat CSKA Moscow.

However, Spurs' fate remains in their own hands - wins against Monaco and then CSKA next month will guarantee a place in the last 16.

Mauricio Pochettino's side face a mighty task in Monaco, with the hosts boasting an impressive home record in the group stages - their last defeat came against Rangers in September 2000.

Team news

Tottenham flew into Nice on Monday without Erik Lamela, Ben Davies and Toby Alderweireld, all of whom remain sidelined with existing injuries.

They have a fully fit squad otherwise, but Pochettino will wait before settling on his team selection for the meeting with their Ligue 1 opponents.

The Argentine manager is reluctant to pick players whose involvement might limit how much they feature in the club's other forthcoming fixtures.

Harry Kane, who has recently returned to action after seven weeks out with an ankle injury, falls into that category.

Dele Alli and Mousa Dembele could also be omitted for the sake of ensuring they are available further down the line but all three are training ahead of the game at the Stade Louis II.

Opta stats

Monaco and Tottenham's head-to-head record in all competitions is perfectly balanced with one win each and one draw.

Monaco scored with each of their two shots on target in their 2-1 win against Tottenham back in September.

Both teams have scored in each of their three previous encounters.

Monaco have only kept one clean sheet in their last 10 games against English clubs, in all competitions. Meanwhile, Tottenham have never won an away game against French opposition, in all competitions (D3 L1).

Monaco have reached the knockout stages in five of their six previous Champions League campaigns whilst Tottenham got out of the group stages in their only previous appearance, in 2010/11.

Monaco have lost only two of their last 19 Champions League games at home (W13 D4). Their last home defeat in the group stages dates back to September 2000 against Rangers (0-1).

Monaco have also kept five clean sheets in their last seven Champions League games at their Louis-II stadium.

Tottenham have yet to concede a goal in their two away games in the Champions League this season.

However, Tottenham have failed to score more than one goal in each of their last eight Champions League games. In this season's group stages, only two of Tottenham's 52 shots have found the back of the net.

Tottenham have also only won one of their last seven Champions League games (D2 L4), which came away against CSKA Moscow this season (1-0).

Falcao has scored six goals in only nine Champions League starts, two of which came in his last game, against CSKA Moscow.

Erik Lamela has scored four goals and delivered one assist in three games against Monaco since last season. He's so far assisted both of Spurs' goals in this season's Champions League.

Charlie's prediction

It is obviously a huge game for Spurs. Monaco have picked up their form again, with three pretty emphatic wins on the bounce, so it's not an ideal situation for Mauricio Pochettino.

I always think it suits the team that doesn't have to force it and they can sit and wait and hit Spurs on the counter-attack. I don't see them being particularly offensive.

Have Spurs got enough about them? Harry Kane hasn't really played well yet but he's scored goals when Spurs needed them.

I see them struggling here because of the situation they've created. I expect it will be a draw and Spurs will be hoping for a result in the other game.

Charlie predicts: 1-1 and Christian Eriksen to score first - 40/1 with Sky Bet

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